JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has raised its price target for J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $176.00, suggesting a potential upside of 26.77% from the current stock price.
• J.B. Hunt reported earnings of $1.76 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding estimates by $0.30, although revenue declined 0.5% year-over-year.
• The stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with one Strong Buy, ten Buy ratings, and twelve Hold ratings, resulting in an average consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $170.00 to $176.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the transportation company's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 26.77% from the stock's current price.

JBHT has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. UBS Group cut J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $157.00 in a report on Friday, September 5th. Barclays reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $159.00 to $155.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $160.86.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $138.83 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $200.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $140.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.26% and a net margin of 4.59%.The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric Mcgee purchased 1,148 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $140.76 per share, with a total value of $161,592.48. Following the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 7,397 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,041,201.72. This represents a 18.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 989 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.97, for a total value of $150,298.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,763.62. The trade was a 51.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,048,462 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,486,670,000 after acquiring an additional 195,873 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.6% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,853,092 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $718,015,000 after acquiring an additional 616,986 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $258,457,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,993 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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