Nuance Investments LLC Takes Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 41,981 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,165,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $163,237,000 after acquiring an additional 503,324 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,035,000 after acquiring an additional 184,601 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after acquiring an additional 134,476 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at approximately $15,149,000. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth approximately $12,630,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on JBHT. Truist Financial began coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, March 13th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $186.80.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $149.95 on Wednesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.34 and a fifty-two week high of $200.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.56.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Profile

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.