3,800 Shares in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 3,800 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $805,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the first quarter worth approximately $1,862,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 62.6% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 2,371 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at $207,000. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter valued at $1,681,000. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 1st quarter worth $214,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on JBHT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $209.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Benchmark raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Argus set a $285.00 price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.87.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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 value of $200,446.39. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,252.70. This represents a 47.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.49, for a total value of $1,017,960.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,213,045.04. This trade represents a 31.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 18,119 shares of company stock worth $4,736,095 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $285.83 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $232.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.25, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.29. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $130.12 and a 1-year high of $294.98.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 27.86%.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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.