J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Lowered to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

JBHT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, July 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $286.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $299.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of JBHT opened at $273.05 on Monday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $130.12 and a 52 week high of $299.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.46.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for 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%.J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,833,602,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $891,349,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,982,720 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $843,937,000 after purchasing an additional 41,887 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,056,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $305,753,000 after buying an additional 414,837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter worth $287,581,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. Through its operating segments, the company provides freight transportation, logistics and supply-chain services to customers across North America.

Its principal businesses include intermodal transportation, which combines rail and trucking; dedicated contract services, which provides customized transportation and fleet-management solutions; and integrated capacity solutions, which matches customer freight with available transportation capacity.