J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Declares $0.43 Quarterly Dividend

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of 0.43 per share by the transportation company on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 15.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 23.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $7.53 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.8%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT traded up $3.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $176.87. 1,003,934 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 858,120. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $153.12 and a 52-week high of $219.51. The company has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total value of $525,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,476,674.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on JBHT. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.56.

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.