Amundi Buys 14,116 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 503,771 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 14,116 shares during the quarter. Amundi owned about 0.50% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $89,586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% during the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,035,000 after buying an additional 184,601 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,384.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 156,097 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,297,000 after buying an additional 149,815 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 155.7% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 220,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,689,000 after buying an additional 134,476 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 753,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $129,765,000 after buying an additional 93,213 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $15,149,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $154.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $202.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $169.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.17. The firm has a market cap of $15.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JBHT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $207.00 to $202.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Friday, January 17th. Seven investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.84.

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.