205,000 Shares in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT Bought by Encompass Capital Advisors LLC

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 205,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,840,000. J.B. Hunt Transport Services makes up about 1.6% of Encompass Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.22% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 39.1% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 178 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 798 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total value of $1,017,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,213,045.04. This represents a 31.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $516,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,188,752.80. The trade was a 30.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock valued at $4,736,095. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $267.24 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.12 and a 1-year high of $293.54. The stock has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 41.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $256.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.02.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 17.30%. The firm had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold 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 target price of $236.17.

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.