Trillium Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 99,058 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,671,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,160,000 after buying an additional 13,729 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total transaction of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,362.81. This trade represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 790 shares in the company, valued at $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on JBHT shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp began coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $274.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $25.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.12 and a 52-week high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $278.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $250.96.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.50%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.