J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) EVP Sells $287,937.00 in Stock

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 1,391 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.00, for a total value of $287,937.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,019 shares in the company, valued at $831,933. This represents a 25.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ JBHT traded down $3.98 on Friday, hitting $206.75. The company had a trading volume of 980,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,290. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $19.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.67, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.27. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $212.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $191.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.34.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.66%.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $426,126,000 after acquiring an additional 1,389,723 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of 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 worth $358,510,000 after acquiring an additional 416,167 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in 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 last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JBHT shares. Evercore ISI set a $222.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.05.

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.