Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 75,308 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors acquired 75,308 J.B. Hunt shares worth approximately $21.8 million, making the transportation company about 1% of its portfolio and representing roughly 0.08% of J.B. Hunt’s shares.
• J.B. Hunt reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.91 beating estimates of $1.71 and revenue of $3.50 billion surpassing forecasts of $3.26 billion. Revenue increased 19.4% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45, equal to an annualized $1.80 and a 0.7% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $286.30.

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 75,308 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $21,796,000. J.B. Hunt Transport Services makes up about 1.0% of Heartland Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $539,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 454,610 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $96,332,000 after purchasing an additional 10,664 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 71.7% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,684 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,882,000 after purchasing an additional 4,043 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,833,602,000. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 201,839 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $39,225,000 after purchasing an additional 8,270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $275.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a PE ratio of 39.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $130.12 and a fifty-two week high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock's 50-day moving average is $278.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.13.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The firm's revenue was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total value of $200,446.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on JBHT. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $248.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.30.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.

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