J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $168.00 to $223.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. J.B. Hunt Transport Services traded as high as $208.13 and last traded at $206.1810, with a volume of 100299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $206.33.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $179,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 7,043 shares in the company, valued at $1,264,500.22. This trade represents a 12.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 2,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.04, for a total value of $380,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,796,029.96. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,109 shares of company stock valued at $2,688,970. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Here are the key news stories impacting J.B. Hunt Transport Services this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on JBHT from $176 to $211 and kept an “overweight” rating, signaling stronger analyst optimism and providing near-term upside support for the shares. JPMorgan raises price target to $211
• Positive Sentiment: Short interest fell sharply in December (down ~22.8% to ~2.84M shares, ~3.0% of float, short-interest ratio ~3.5 days), which reduces immediate short-selling pressure and can be a technical tailwind for the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlights JBHT as a top-ranked momentum stock, which can attract momentum-focused flows ahead of earnings. JB Hunt is a Top-Ranked Momentum Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Heartland Advisors’ Mid Cap Value Fund letter notes mid-cap/value underperformance in the recent market environment — a macro observation that may limit sector-driven upside but doesn’t single out JBHT fundamentals. Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund’s Views on J.B. Hunt
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and analyst commentary are clustered ahead of the quarter (Yahoo’s piece examines whether upgrades reflect durable intermodal strength vs. cyclical optimism), adding noise but also keeping JBHT in focus for investors ahead of results. Do Clustered Analyst Upgrades Reveal Durable Intermodal Strength?
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks’ Q4 preview flags expected year-over-year revenue declines and calls out higher net interest expense as a possible headwind to EPS — guidance or results confirming those pressures could push the stock lower on the print. Zacks: JB Hunt gears up to report Q4 — revenue decline and interest expense concerns

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

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 77.2% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,189,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,126,000 after buying an additional 1,389,723 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $358,510,000 after buying an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 0.0%

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $185.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.65 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.50%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.