Pacer Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 3,703.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 275,830 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 268,577 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 0.29% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $58,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $843,937,000 after acquiring an additional 41,887 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after acquiring an additional 565,605 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,317,000 after acquiring an additional 82,939 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $200,587,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $266.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1 year low of $130.12 and a 1 year high of $299.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $280.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $244.73.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 18.75% and a net margin of 5.31%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 25.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,213,045.04. The trade was a 31.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradley W. Hicks sold 7,644 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.91, for a total transaction of $2,002,040.04. Following the sale, the insider owned 23,982 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,281,125.62. This trade represents a 24.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 15,847 shares of company stock worth $4,162,861. 2.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $265.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.30.

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.