Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Raises Stock Position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 3.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,413 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $11,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 57.8% during the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 202 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 38.6% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 14,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 15,998 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,317,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $164.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $166.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

JBHT opened at $179.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $157.44 and a 200-day moving average of $148.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 0.87. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 1-year low of $122.79 and a 1-year high of $189.66.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.50%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 22nd that permits the company to buyback $0.00 in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was 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 directly owned 12,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,192,944. The trade was a 33.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.