J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives $286.30 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $286.3043.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $248.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $299.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

JBHT opened at $282.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $130.12 and a 52-week high of $299.76. The firm has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average is $279.78 and its 200-day moving average is $248.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 5.31%.The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 25.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total value of $200,446.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,203 shares of company stock worth $1,142,861 in the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,833,602,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $258,457,000 after buying an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at $200,587,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 75,567.4% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,006,377 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $287,581,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.