American Century Companies Inc. Buys 13,475 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,373 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,475 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $23,615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% during the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $163,237,000 after buying an additional 503,324 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth $15,149,000. Finally, Scopia Capital Management LP acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth $12,630,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on JBHT shares. Benchmark reissued 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $146.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.34 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $162.28 and a 200-day moving average of $172.09.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.