J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Increases Dividend to $0.45 Per Share

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.45 per share by the transportation company on Friday, February 20th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This is a 2.3% increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 22 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 25.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $7.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $210.73 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.34. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $212.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.