Truist Financial Begins Coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Truist Financial started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $165.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

JBHT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $188.60.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $149.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $168.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.69. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $147.00 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $14.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,390,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $578,572,000 after purchasing an additional 15,476 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $566,944,000 after purchasing an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,124,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,554,000 after purchasing an additional 104,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,997,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $340,049,000 after purchasing an additional 8,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,319,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,209,000 after purchasing an additional 8,725 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.