J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $236.00 and last traded at $231.95, with a volume of 69988 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $230.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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 report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $212.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $178.10. The company has a market capitalization of $22.02 billion, a PE ratio of 37.91, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.23.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research 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 Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 29.32%.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, SVP Jennifer Boattini sold 2,238 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.00, for a total value of $519,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 16,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,862,800. The trade was a 11.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.25, for a total value of $227,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 6,983 shares in the company, valued at $1,586,886.75. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 28,329 shares of company stock worth $6,107,619 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $195,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,005,047 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,434,000 after purchasing an additional 635,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 272.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 747,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $145,245,000 after purchasing an additional 546,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.