Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 109,806 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 16,479 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.12% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $14,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,672,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $358,510,000 after purchasing an additional 416,167 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,072,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 11,637 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,799,843 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $258,457,000 after buying an additional 1,447,993 shares during the period. Finally, Park Presidio Capital LLC raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 149.5% in the second quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC now owns 670,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $96,337,000 after buying an additional 401,937 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $158.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $227.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.4%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $221.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $206.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.56. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $122.79 and a one year high of $234.82.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 15th. The transportation company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.81 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 29.32%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In related news, CFO Albert Brad Delco sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.25, for a total value of $227,250.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,586,886.75. This represents a 12.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.76, for a total value of $1,977,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,359,343.36. This trade represents a 45.60% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock valued at $6,727,749. Company insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

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.