Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its J.B. Hunt stake by 28% in the fourth quarter, selling 136,360 shares and leaving it with 351,348 shares valued at about $68.3 million.
• J.B. Hunt’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $1.49 versus $1.45 expected and revenue of $3.06 billion versus $3.01 billion expected; revenue rose 4.6% year over year.
• Analysts remain mostly positive on JBHT, with an average “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $228.17, even as some firms recently raised targets and one downgraded its rating slightly.

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 28.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 351,348 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 136,360 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.37% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $68,281,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JBHT. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $248.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $228.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total value of $318,954.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,002,802. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.28, for a total transaction of $254,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,559 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,973,462.52. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 15,916 shares of company stock worth $4,109,634 in the last 90 days. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $276.43 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $237.42 and a 200-day moving average of $214.07. The firm has a market cap of $26.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.79, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.28. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.12 and a 12-month high of $277.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.86%.

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.

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