J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 (NASDAQ:JBHT)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the transportation company on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 15.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 20.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.7%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.1 %

JBHT stock traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $162.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,241,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,345. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.05. The company has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.72, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.11. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $160.07 and a 52 week high of $219.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $204.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $218.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $194.24.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 3,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.56, for a total transaction of $807,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $98,627.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 3,800 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $212.56, for a total transaction of $807,728.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $98,627.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alfred C. Harper sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total value of $1,382,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 42,411 shares in the company, valued at $9,021,243.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,454 shares of company stock worth $3,283,219. Insiders own 2.10% 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.