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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,130,000 shares, a growth of 25.2% from the February 13th total of 2,500,000 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 858,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 190,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $32,861,000 after buying an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 12,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.0% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $492,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. UBS Group dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT traded down $2.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $147.13. The company had a trading volume of 1,466,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 871,471. The company has a market capitalization of $14.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1 year low of $145.86 and a 1 year high of $200.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $167.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.34.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

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.