J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $264.98 and last traded at $263.29, with a volume of 391640 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $256.53.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $216.00 to $221.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $248.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $228.17.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.2%

The stock has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.06, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50-day moving average of $229.56 and a 200-day moving average of $210.28.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 17.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company had revenue of $3.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.17 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total value of $2,002,040.04. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 23,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,281,125.62. The trade was a 24.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Nicholas Hobbs sold 1,272 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.75, for a total value of $318,954.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 91,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,002,802. This represents a 1.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,154 shares of company stock valued at $4,112,450. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.7% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,765 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 232 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 4,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 49 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 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.