J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives $200.05 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $203.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on JBHT shares. Evercore set a $222.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, January 8th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.0%

JBHT opened at $225.72 on Tuesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $234.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $207.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.88.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 29.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,395 shares in the company, valued at $6,842,826.35. The trade was a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 3,038 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total transaction of $613,584.86. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 90,318 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,241,526.46. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Compound Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth $282,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19.5% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 503,738 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,896,000 after purchasing an additional 82,084 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.5% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 49,865 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,691,000 after purchasing an additional 10,753 shares in the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 20,470 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,150,000 after purchasing an additional 11,140 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter worth about $827,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.