J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT Shares Purchased by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 86.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 666 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $96,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 91.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 138,056 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,825,000 after buying an additional 66,022 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.2% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 22,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,202,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 6,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Cambiar Investors LLC raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cambiar Investors LLC now owns 54,060 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,763,000 after purchasing an additional 3,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter valued at $770,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total value of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at $2,192,944. This trade represents a 33.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $170.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.63, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $148.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.86. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $122.79 and a 12-month high of $200.40. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The firm had revenue of ($5,136.05) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 30.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on JBHT. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Benchmark upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.30.

About J.B. Hunt Transport Services

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in the United States. It operates through five segments: Intermodal (JBI), Dedicated Contract Services (DCS), Integrated Capacity Solutions (ICS), Final Mile Services (FMS), and Truckload (JBT). The JBI segment offers intermodal freight solutions.