J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $157.82, but opened at $162.06. J.B. Hunt Transport Services shares last traded at $157.58, with a volume of 94,112 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on JBHT. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $15.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $170.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.78.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total transaction of $1,100,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. The trade was a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,545 shares of company stock worth $1,898,942 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. National Pension Service acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. 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 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.