J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Shareholders to Get $0.45 Quarterly Dividend

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.45 per share by the transportation company on Friday, November 20th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 22 years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 25.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $9.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.6%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Up 1.1%

JBHT traded up $2.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $231.03. The stock had a trading volume of 132,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,009,761. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.31. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52 week low of $157.82 and a 52 week high of $299.76.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81 by $0.01. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.07% and a return on equity of 18.72%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 7.23 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on JBHT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Benchmark lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $297.00 to $283.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $340.00 to $302.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.76.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a transportation and logistics company headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. Founded in 1961 by Johnnie Bryan Hunt and his wife, Nellie, the company has grown into a major provider of freight transportation services across North America.

The company’s principal operations include intermodal transportation, which combines rail and truck services; dedicated contract services, which provide customized transportation capacity and fleet management for individual customers; and integrated logistics solutions, including freight brokerage and third-party logistics.