J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on August 21st

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of 0.45 per share by the transportation company on Friday, August 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 25.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $9.74 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.5%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of JBHT opened at $289.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.99, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.29. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $130.12 and a one year high of $299.76. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $278.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $241.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 5.31%.The business’s revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $516,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 4,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,188,752.80. The trade was a 30.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total value of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 790 shares in the company, valued at $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 15,847 shares of company stock valued at $4,162,861 over the last three months. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,047 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,434,000 after purchasing an additional 635,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $145,245,000 after buying an additional 546,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.