J.B. Hunt Transport Services’ (JBHT) Outperform Rating Reiterated at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $195.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an overweight rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $181.00 to $161.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $182.19.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT opened at $171.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $169.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.57. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1 year low of $153.12 and a 1 year high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Persio V. Lisboa bought 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares in the company, valued at $587,511.18. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $525,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,476,674.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,722.2% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 545,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $108,600,000 after buying an additional 525,729 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $152,589,000 after acquiring an additional 193,684 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 282.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 173,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,740,000 after purchasing an additional 128,283 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at about $19,755,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $177,336,000 after purchasing an additional 120,202 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.