Inspire Investing LLC Buys 5,542 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 46.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,542 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $3,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 42.2% in the fourth quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 5,249 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares during the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $2,112,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $39,840,000. Finally, Aventail Capital Group LP bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $7,171,000. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total transaction of $426,015.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,281,125.62. The trade was a 24.17% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT stock opened at $267.24 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $225.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.12 and a 12-month high of $293.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.37, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on JBHT. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $201.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, June 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.17.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.