Strs Ohio Buys 31,908 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 70.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,908 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,908 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned 0.08% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $11,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.1% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 10,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the first quarter worth $1,746,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 222.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 21,914 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,147,000 after buying an additional 15,111 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth $244,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 482 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Mcgee purchased 1,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $140.76 per share, with a total value of $161,592.48. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 7,397 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,201.72. This represents a 18.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,192,944. The trade was a 33.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $168.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $200.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.36. The stock has a market cap of $16.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on JBHT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $164.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.30.

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.