J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Price Target Raised to $211.00

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price target hoisted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $176.00 to $211.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on JBHT. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Susquehanna raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $160.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday. Citigroup cut shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $221.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $193.64.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $205.81 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $208.13. The firm has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.50%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.04, for a total value of $380,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,499 shares in the company, valued at $5,796,029.96. This trade represents a 6.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 1,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.29, for a total transaction of $300,592.52. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 550 shares in the company, valued at $104,109.50. The trade was a 74.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,109 shares of company stock worth $2,688,970. 2.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $258,457,000 after buying an additional 1,447,993 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 338.0% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 823,089 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $110,434,000 after acquiring an additional 635,172 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter valued at $91,094,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 416,167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Presidio Capital LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 149.5% in the 2nd quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC now owns 670,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $96,337,000 after purchasing an additional 401,937 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.