Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $10.69 Million Stock Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in J.B. Hunt by 441.6% in the 4th quarter, owning 55,000 shares valued at about $10.69 million (≈0.06% of the company) after adding 44,845 shares.
• Institutional ownership stands at 74.95% with several funds (including Goldman Sachs) increasing stakes, while insiders have sold 19,869 shares (~$4.5M) over the last 90 days and now own 2.5% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $227.04 after multiple target raises; the company also beat quarterly EPS estimates and announced a $0.45 quarterly dividend (annual yield ~0.7%).

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) by 441.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,000 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 44,845 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.06% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $10,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $64,160,000 after acquiring an additional 13,729 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $539,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 583 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Benchmark upped their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Citigroup upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $228.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total transaction of $318,954.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares in the company, valued at $23,002,802. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.25, for a total value of $227,250.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 6,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,586,886.75. This trade represents a 12.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 19,869 shares of company stock worth $4,504,707 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $248.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.22. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $126.05 and a one year high of $256.18. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $221.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $199.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.17 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 27.86%.

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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