Darren Field Sells 9,000 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) EVP Darren Field sold 9,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total value of $1,977,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 10,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,359,343.36. This represents a 45.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 4.2%

JBHT stock traded up $8.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $220.61. The company had a trading volume of 1,991,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,121,088. The company has a market capitalization of $21.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.93, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.27. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.79 and a 52 week high of $220.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 28.66%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,160,000 after purchasing an additional 13,729 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $539,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $160.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.