Commerce Bank Invests $1.46 Million in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,034 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,457,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JBHT. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,833,602,000. State Street Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 272,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted 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 buying an additional 41,887 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. UBS Group lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $286.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $310.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $262.18 on Wednesday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.12 and a 12-month high of $299.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $277.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.31 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,252.70. The trade was a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total transaction of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.