Demars Financial Group LLC Boosts Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 16,964.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 610,059 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 606,484 shares during the quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC owned about 0.61% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $104,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at about $86,000. MML Investors Services LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 236,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,698,000 after purchasing an additional 64,380 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.8% in the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,586 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 42.0% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 6,047 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on JBHT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Susquehanna set a $140.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.90.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 7.7 %

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $124.73 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.79 and a 12 month high of $200.40. The company has a market capitalization of $12.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $152.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.65.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.94%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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.