Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Raises Stock Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 129.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 14,840 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $3,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth approximately $211,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $721,000 after acquiring an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 112,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,250,000 after acquiring an additional 11,090 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter valued at $4,278,000. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 32,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,490,000 after purchasing an additional 2,372 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JBHT. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Susquehanna upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $169.00 target price for the company. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $164.90.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $143.51 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $145.39 and its 200 day moving average is $148.55. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $200.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $13.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 32.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP David Keefauver sold 989 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.97, for a total value of $150,298.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,763.62. This trade represents a 51.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.