Legal & General Group Plc Invests $100.90 Million in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 348,628 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $100,903,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 74.3% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,643 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,314,000 after buying an additional 6,668 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 433,661 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,160,000 after acquiring an additional 13,729 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 27.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 1,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth $539,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 583 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $263.39 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $277.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $252.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.30. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $130.12 and a twelve month high of $299.76.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s quarterly revenue was up 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on JBHT shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.30.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Brian Webb sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.01, for a total value of $426,015.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,881 shares in the company, valued at $4,510,362.81. This represents a 8.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total value of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $225,252.70. This trade represents a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.50% 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.