J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $201.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on JBHT. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $181.00 to $161.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an outperform rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $183.50.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 2.9 %

JBHT opened at $170.72 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.40. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.15.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total value of $525,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,674.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $525,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,476,674.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Persio V. Lisboa bought 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBHT. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,722.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 545,042 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $108,600,000 after purchasing an additional 525,729 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $152,589,000 after acquiring an additional 193,684 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 282.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 173,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,740,000 after acquiring an additional 128,283 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at about $19,755,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,336,000 after acquiring an additional 120,202 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.