Robert W. Baird Issues Positive Forecast for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock Price

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Robert W. Baird from $173.00 to $215.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Robert W. Baird’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.26% from the stock’s current price.

JBHT has been the topic of several other research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $157.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $147.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.3%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $196.78 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $204.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.66. The company has a market cap of $18.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.27.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.75% and a return on equity of 15.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Brian Webb sold 796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.11, for a total value of $150,531.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,968,459.67. This represents a 4.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.54, for a total transaction of $179,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 7,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,264,500.22. The trade was a 12.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,109 shares of company stock valued at $2,688,970. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after purchasing an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 77.2% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,189,566 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $426,126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,389,723 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $358,510,000 after buying an additional 416,167 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $296,383,000 after buying an additional 11,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,317,000 after buying an additional 82,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.