Ascent Group LLC Cuts Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Ascent Group LLC reduced its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 35.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,916 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trillium Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 174,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,844,000 after buying an additional 28,202 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,946,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,089,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 197,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $39,413,000 after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,795,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $234.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $185.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $587,511.18. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $173.61. The company had a trading volume of 127,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 867,836. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $160.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $180.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $153.12 and a 52 week high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.