Royal Bank of Canada Has $21.40 Million Stock Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 21.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,990 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,537 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $21,399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $539,000. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 48.6% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 13,849 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,527 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 9,684 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,882,000 after acquiring an additional 4,043 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 201,839 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,225,000 after purchasing an additional 8,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna set a $345.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Argus set a $285.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $272.66 on Thursday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $130.12 and a 52 week high of $299.76. The company has a market cap of $25.61 billion, a PE ratio of 38.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $280.61 and a 200 day moving average of $245.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,252.70. The trade was a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 23,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,281,125.62. This trade represents a 24.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 15,847 shares of company stock valued at $4,162,861 over the last ninety days. 2.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.