J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,700,000 shares, a growth of 6.9% from the July 15th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 904,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director Persio V. Lisboa acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 3,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,513,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth approximately $979,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 7,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 50,341 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,055,000 after buying an additional 6,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 14,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,890,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Susquehanna cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $191.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $181.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.88.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 3.0 %

NASDAQ JBHT traded up $5.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $175.45. The stock had a trading volume of 879,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 869,065. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.21. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.49.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.73 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

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.