J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $181.88.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on JBHT shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $234.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 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 research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The stock was bought at an average price of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $587,511.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,159 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 738 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,699 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Finally, Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 9,654 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,928,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $171.54 on Monday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $153.12 and a 1-year high of $219.51. The company has a market capitalization of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.