J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,193 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 327 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $1,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 174,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,844,000 after purchasing an additional 28,202 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after purchasing an additional 25,109 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth about $8,089,000. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 197,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $39,413,000 after purchasing an additional 19,987 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 4th quarter worth about $1,795,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $163.47 per share, with a total value of $98,082.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $191.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $155.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.88.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

JBHT traded up $0.76 on Friday, hitting $171.54. The company had a trading volume of 711,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,064,884. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $160.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.04. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $153.12 and a 1-year high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.30%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.