Heartland Advisors Inc. Purchases New Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 75,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,796,000. J.B. Hunt Transport Services comprises approximately 1.0% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19,800.0% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 199 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays boosted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares in the company, valued at $225,252.70. The trade was a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 2.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $275.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.13. The company has a market cap of $25.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.12 and a 1 year high of $299.76.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.31 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. 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 presently 25.50%.

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.