J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $189.67.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $214.00 to $207.00 in a research report on Monday, March 20th. Bank of America cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $197.00 to $194.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 18th. Argus decreased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 20th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Stuart Lockard Scott sold 2,458 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.34, for a total value of $438,359.72. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,126 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,194,330.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, CFO John Kuhlow sold 3,500 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.05, for a total value of $616,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 9,911 shares in the company, valued at $1,744,831.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stuart Lockard Scott sold 2,458 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.34, for a total value of $438,359.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 29,126 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,194,330.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,158 shares of company stock valued at $1,264,895 in the last quarter. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,834,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,538,341,000 after buying an additional 69,566 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 6,714,693 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,178,160,000 after purchasing an additional 429,256 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 269.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,371,613 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $413,514,000 after purchasing an additional 1,728,989 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,811,494 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $317,163,000 after purchasing an additional 38,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16.3% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,581,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $277,540,000 after purchasing an additional 221,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.93% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $171.54 on Wednesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $153.92 and a fifty-two week high of $200.64. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $17.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.13.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by ($0.23). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 25.85% and a net margin of 6.35%. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 8.56 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 12th will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 11th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.09%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc engages in the provision of logistics solutions. It operates through the following segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS) and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight operations for rail carriers.