J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given New $166.00 Price Target at Bank of America

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its target price raised by Bank of America from $150.00 to $166.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $150.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $162.00.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $148.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $122.79 and a 52-week high of $200.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $139.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.00. The company has a market capitalization of $14.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.33.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.02. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. Research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Nicholas Hobbs bought 1,529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $130.75 per share, for a total transaction of $199,916.75. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,847 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,008,995.25. The trade was a 1.69% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 236,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,698,000 after purchasing an additional 64,380 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 98,725 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,013,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 17,271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,947,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,689,000 after purchasing an additional 134,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gateway Investment Advisers LLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

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.