J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) shares gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $335.00 to $305.00. The stock had previously closed at $273.05, but opened at $242.89. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares last traded at $238.5420, with a volume of 823,298 shares trading hands.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on JBHT. Zacks Research lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.61.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 500.0% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 250.0% in the first quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 217 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 378.1% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 349 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 12.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $274.65 and its 200-day moving average is $256.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced 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. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.50%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. Through its operating segments, the company provides freight transportation, logistics and supply-chain services to customers across North America.

Its principal businesses include intermodal transportation, which combines rail and trucking; dedicated contract services, which provides customized transportation and fleet-management solutions; and integrated capacity solutions, which matches customer freight with available transportation capacity.