J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Plans $0.44 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, with a payout date of November 21st for stockholders recorded by November 7th.
• The company reported earnings of $1.76 per share for the latest quarter, surpassing estimates and generating revenue of $3.05 billion, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 0.5%.
• Over 74.95% of J.B. Hunt's stock is owned by institutional investors, reflecting strong interest from hedge funds and other investment firms.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.44 per share by the transportation company on Friday, November 21st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 25.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $7.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $168.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $16.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Eric Mcgee bought 1,148 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $140.76 per share, with a total value of $161,592.48. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 7,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,041,201.72. The trade was a 18.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.8% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 202 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.2% during the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 731 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 38.6% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the second quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 14,600 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,097,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 583 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $84,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.

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