J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the transportation company on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has raised its dividend payment by an average of 15.9% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 21 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 20.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.72 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 19.7%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT traded down $1.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $162.01. 1,241,232 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 997,345. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $160.07 and a 52 week high of $219.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on JBHT. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $173.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $234.00 to $211.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $218.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $204.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $194.24.

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

In other news, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 754 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.79, for a total value of $159,689.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,744,090.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Alfred C. Harper sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.71, for a total transaction of $1,382,615.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 42,411 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,021,243.81. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 754 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.79, for a total transaction of $159,689.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,235 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,744,090.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,454 shares of company stock valued at $3,283,219 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.