Benchmark Issues Positive Forecast for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock Price

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price objective hoisted by equities researchers at Benchmark from $220.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 1.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on JBHT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Vertical Research downgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $214.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.91.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 4.5%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $227.57 on Wednesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $122.79 and a fifty-two week high of $236.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, CAO John Kuhlow sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.68, for a total transaction of $225,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,046,668.08. This represents a 5.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.57, for a total value of $74,663.67. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $906,565.83. This represents a 7.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 25,945 shares of company stock worth $5,656,495 over the last quarter. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 225 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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 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.