J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Earns “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Benchmark in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $195.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 12.74% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on JBHT. Evercore ISI cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.83.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT traded down $13.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.96. 1,526,888 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 867,072. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $153.12 and a one year high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,904. This represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 237 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.