J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $175.00 target price on the transportation company's stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on JBHT. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "positive" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $158.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.20.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of JBHT traded down $4.77 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $124.46. 559,719 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 935,732. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $122.79 and a twelve month high of $200.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $168.08. The stock has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's payout ratio is presently 31.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,097 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 820 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 535 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 731 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 33.9% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 340 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company's stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.