J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Brokerages

Key Points

• J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 26 analysts: 15 buys, 9 holds, 1 sell and 1 strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $284.17.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.91 in EPS versus the $1.71 consensus and $3.50 billion in revenue, up 19.4% year over year.
• J.B. Hunt paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share, or $1.80 annualized, representing a 0.8% yield; institutional investors own approximately 74.95% of the stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, fifteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $284.17.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 21st. Susquehanna set a $345.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.4%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $229.28 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $131.71 and a 52 week high of $299.76. The company has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $264.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,833,602,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $891,349,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $843,937,000 after purchasing an additional 41,887 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 64.7% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,056,398 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $305,753,000 after purchasing an additional 414,837 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $287,581,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. Founded in 1961 by Johnnie Bryan Hunt and Johnelle Hunt, the company has grown from a small trucking operation into a major provider of freight transportation and supply-chain services across North America.

The company's primary business activities include intermodal transportation, which combines rail and truck services; dedicated contract services, which provides customized fleet and delivery operations for individual customers; and integrated capacity solutions, including freight brokerage and third-party logistics.

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