J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on JBHT. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $299.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $261.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of JBHT opened at $274.99 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $130.12 and a one year high of $299.76. The company has a market cap of $25.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37,492.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 33,209,198 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,611,738,000 after acquiring an additional 33,120,858 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,833,602,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $843,937,000 after purchasing an additional 41,887 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $891,349,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,056,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $305,753,000 after purchasing an additional 414,837 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. Through its operating segments, the company provides freight transportation, logistics and supply-chain services to customers across North America.

Its principal businesses include intermodal transportation, which combines rail and trucking; dedicated contract services, which provides customized transportation and fleet-management solutions; and integrated capacity solutions, which matches customer freight with available transportation capacity.