Savvy Advisors Inc. Buys New Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Savvy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,944 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,160,000 after buying an additional 13,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at about $242,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 3,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.97, for a total value of $613,584.86. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 90,318 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,241,526.46. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,842,826.35. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $221.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.27. 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 50 day moving average price of $205.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.01. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $234.82.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on JBHT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.05.

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.