J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 24 research firms, with an average 1-year price target of about $228.17.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, reporting EPS of $1.49 versus the $1.45 estimate and revenue of $3.06 billion, up 4.6% year over year.
• JBHT shares recently traded near 52-week highs, opening at $270.87, while the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.45 per share for an annualized yield of about 0.7%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $228.1739.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $248.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, April 15th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $270.87 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $130.12 and a 52-week high of $273.00. The stock has a market cap of $25.54 billion, a PE ratio of 41.93, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $234.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.92.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.86%.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total transaction of $318,954.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,002,802. This trade represents a 1.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer Boattini sold 2,238 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.00, for a total value of $519,216.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 16,650 shares in the company, valued at $3,862,800. This trade represents a 11.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,628,850. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Summitry LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,560 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $257,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $124,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at about $6,864,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company's stock.

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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