Darren Field Sells 4,000 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock

Key Points

• J.B. Hunt EVP Darren Field sold 4,000 shares on May 14 at an average price of $254.49, generating about $1.02 million and reducing his direct stake by 31.51% to 8,696 shares.
• The stock climbed 2.4% to $260.78, near its 52-week high of $263.24, while trading volume came in slightly above average.
• The company posted solid earnings and reaffirmed investor support, with Q1 EPS of $1.49 beating estimates and revenue rising 4.6% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) EVP Darren Field sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total transaction of $1,017,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,213,045.04. This trade represents a 31.51% 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.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 2.4%

JBHT traded up $6.12 on Friday, reaching $260.78. 1,096,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,020,600. The company has a market cap of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.41, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $225.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $207.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.12 and a 52-week high of $263.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's payout ratio is 27.86%.

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

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19,800.0% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 199 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold 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 $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.