Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Increases Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 140.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 363 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $62,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Net Worth Advisory Group purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 67.7% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 451 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 18,084 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,116,000 after buying an additional 912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tempus Wealth Planning LLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 6,229 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 700 shares in the company, valued at $127,904. This trade represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,092,976.08. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 10,545 shares of company stock valued at $1,898,942 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on JBHT shares. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $174.26 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $173.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $214.39.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

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.