J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Position Lifted by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of JBHT. Forsta AP Fonden raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% during the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 24.5% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 29,302 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,767 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.5% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 4,278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $690,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total value of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $275,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,321,275. This represents a 10.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,314 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,052. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $182.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.12 and a 1-year high of $219.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $168.31.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.80 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

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.