J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) COO Nicholas Hobbs Sells 1,272 Shares

Key Points

• COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares on April 22 at an average price of $250.75 for $318,954, leaving him with 91,736 shares — a 1.37% reduction in his position.
• J.B. Hunt beat Q1 expectations with EPS of $1.49 vs. $1.45 and revenue of $3.06 billion (up 4.6% year-over-year), and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.45 ($1.80 annualized, a 0.7% yield).
• Shares recently traded around $247.03 (12‑month high $256.18, low $126.05) with a market cap of $23.37 billion; analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $227.04.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 91,736 shares in the company, valued at $23,002,802. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT traded down $4.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $247.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 971,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,043,651. The business's 50-day moving average price is $219.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $126.05 and a 12 month high of $256.18. The stock has a market cap of $23.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.81 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.17 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services's previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services's payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $592,015,000 after buying an additional 272,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $765,862,000 after buying an additional 84,149 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% in the 4th 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 period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $358,510,000 after buying an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the 3rd 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 period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on JBHT shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $227.04.

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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