Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Takes Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,237 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $146,618,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after purchasing an additional 503,324 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,689,000 after purchasing an additional 134,476 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 236,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,698,000 after purchasing an additional 64,380 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 112,116 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,134,000 after purchasing an additional 60,926 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.95.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $134.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $127.05 and a 12 month high of $200.40. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $155.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.72. The company has a market cap of $13.44 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.