Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Purchases 799 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,602 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 799 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $2,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the third quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 382.1% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 188 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the second quarter valued at about $36,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on JBHT shares. Susquehanna increased their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $151.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $190.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $190.31 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.12. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a one year low of $153.12 and a one year high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.7 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is currently 31.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, SVP Kevin Bracy sold 1,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $189.87, for a total value of $306,450.18. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,235 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,563,579.45. This trade represents a 16.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total value of $427,262.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,314 shares of company stock valued at $1,008,962 over the last three months. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.