Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases New Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 22,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 207 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.8% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 202 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 41.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 225 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 52.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 220 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total value of $1,977,840.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,359,343.36. This trade represents a 45.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 3,225 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.76, for a total value of $579,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 13,095 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,353,957.20. The trade was a 19.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749. Corporate insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $176.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Argus raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Vertical Research lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $221.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $205.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.79 and a 52 week high of $234.82.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 4.99%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 29.32%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.