J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Given “Buy” Rating at Benchmark

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $195.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Benchmark’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.08% from the stock’s current price.

JBHT has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Barclays lifted their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James upped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna raised shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.67.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $172.45 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $180.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.95. The stock has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.16. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 52-week low of $153.12 and a 52-week high of $219.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.67 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277 over the last 90 days. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 47.2% in the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 237 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.