J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Price Target Raised to $230.00

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its target price lifted by Benchmark from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $205.91.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $227.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.22. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $236.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $217.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.20.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 29.32%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total transaction of $1,977,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,359,343.36. This represents a 45.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 1,391 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.00, for a total value of $287,937.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,933. This represents a 25.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,945 shares of company stock valued at $5,656,495. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter valued at $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,047 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,434,000 after purchasing an additional 635,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $145,245,000 after purchasing an additional 546,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.