New York State Teachers Retirement System Boosts Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.1% in the first quarter, ending with 79,314 shares worth about $16.8 million.
• Several other large institutional investors also boosted holdings, and institutional ownership stands at 74.95% of the company’s stock.
• J.B. Hunt recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.49 versus the expected $1.45, while analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average price target of $239.87.

New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 11.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 79,314 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,903 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.08% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $16,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $765,862,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $729,780,000 after buying an additional 565,605 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $216,317,000 after buying an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at $200,587,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore reiterated 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. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. TD Cowen increased 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. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.87.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $285.83 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $267.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.32. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.12 and a twelve month high of $294.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.95 billion, a PE ratio of 44.25, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. 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 announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.17 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total value of $516,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,188,752.80. This trade represents a 30.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total transaction of $1,017,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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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