New Century Financial Group LLC Buys 132 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

New Century Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,706 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 174,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,844,000 after buying an additional 28,202 shares during the period. Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $8,089,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $1,795,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $11,513,000. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $1,463,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on JBHT shares. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $181.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $204.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $185.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $173.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.38.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $158.71. The stock had a trading volume of 387,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 805,635. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $161.10 and its 200 day moving average is $185.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $219.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.31). The firm had revenue of $2.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.12 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 5.25%. Equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John N. Roberts bought 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $161.06 per share, with a total value of $998,572.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,955 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,565,592.30. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% 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.