Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 3,097 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 9.6%, selling 3,097 shares for a total holding of 29,074 shares valued at approximately $4.3 million.
• J.B. Hunt's recent quarterly earnings report showed $1.31 earnings per share, missing expectations by $0.03, with a revenue of $2.93 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $1.76 and a dividend yield of 1.3%.

Federated Hermes Inc. reduced its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,074 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 3,097 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $4,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,390,200 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $578,572,000 after acquiring an additional 15,476 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,124,425 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $362,554,000 after purchasing an additional 104,019 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,181,027 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $201,555,000 after buying an additional 108,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 795,855 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $135,821,000 after buying an additional 65,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Keefauver sold 989 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.97, for a total transaction of $150,298.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,763.62. This represents a 51.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $148.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $155.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $164.90.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ JBHT traded down $3.18 on Thursday, reaching $140.33. The stock had a trading volume of 899,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,135,587. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.55. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $122.79 and a 1 year high of $200.40. The company has a market capitalization of $13.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by ($0.03). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.59% and a return on equity of 14.26%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.00%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.