Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Makes New $3.01 Million Investment in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 22,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,008,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JBHT. State Street Corp grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in 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 lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 411.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,447,993 shares in the last quarter. Park Presidio Capital LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $96,337,000 after purchasing an additional 401,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $91,094,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 1.4%

JBHT opened at $221.76 on Monday. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.79 and a 12 month high of $234.82. The business has a 50-day moving average of $205.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.27.

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that allows the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBHT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore set a $222.00 price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $174.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.05.

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

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Ronald Greer Woodruff sold 331 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.57, for a total transaction of $74,663.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,019 shares in the company, valued at $906,565.83. This represents a 7.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO John Kuhlow sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.68, for a total value of $225,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,046,668.08. This trade represents a 5.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,316 shares of company stock worth $6,727,749. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.