J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives $200.05 Average Price Target from Analysts

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-four brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $203.00.

A number of brokerages have commented on JBHT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday. Vertical Research lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total transaction of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 13,095 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,353,957.20. This trade represents a 19.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total transaction of $1,977,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,359,343.36. This represents a 45.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock valued at $6,727,749. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after acquiring an additional 84,149 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $358,510,000 after purchasing an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 2.0%

JBHT stock opened at $230.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $21.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.27. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $122.79 and a twelve month high of $234.82. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $208.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 29.32%.

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.