Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Stock

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $201.00 to $205.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential downside of 3.87% from the stock’s current price.

JBHT has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Benchmark raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $212.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $214.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Vertical Research downgraded 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 report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.45.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of JBHT traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $213.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 103,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,035,033. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $122.79 and a 52 week high of $236.00. The stock has a market cap of $20.17 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $215.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $187.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.57, for a total value of $74,663.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $906,565.83. This represents a 7.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 4,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.13, for a total transaction of $906,823.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,842,826.35. This represents a 11.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,945 shares of company stock valued at $5,656,495 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,314,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,160,000 after purchasing an additional 13,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter valued at approximately $539,000. Finally, Choreo LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 90.3% in the second quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.