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

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $175.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock.

JBHT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $165.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.20.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT traded up $4.50 on Wednesday, hitting $129.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,950,062 shares, compared to its average volume of 939,167. The stock has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.08. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $200.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. National Pension Service bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 68.7% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 329 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 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.