Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Takes Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 15,701 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,680,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of JBHT. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after acquiring an additional 503,324 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 820 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 12,666 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,659 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 790,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $134,828,000 after acquiring an additional 37,033 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBHT has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. 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 for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $147.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.90 and a 1-year high of $200.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $166.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.