J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Raises Dividend to $0.44 Per Share

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 24th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the transportation company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 13.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.1%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:JBHT traded down $0.32 on Friday, hitting $169.96. 1,112,217 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,095,440. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $153.12 and a 52 week high of $219.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $178.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.25.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $275,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,275. The trade was a 10.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 15,859 shares of company stock valued at $2,907,905. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on JBHT. Citigroup lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.