DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 1,244 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,210 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,244 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of JBHT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $146,618,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 111.1% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 956,504 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $163,237,000 after purchasing an additional 503,324 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 14,254.9% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 185,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,035,000 after purchasing an additional 184,601 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 134,476 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter valued at about $15,149,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial started coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $147.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $171.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12-month low of $144.34 and a 12-month high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

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.