Natixis Buys 695 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Natixis raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 620.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 807 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 695 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,946,628,000 after acquiring an additional 25,109 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,168,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $433,186,000 after acquiring an additional 62,313 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7,720.2% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 983,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $196,485,000 after acquiring an additional 971,124 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at $185,299,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $177,336,000 after acquiring an additional 120,202 shares during the period. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBHT has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $184.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Stephens cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $181.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Persio V. Lisboa purchased 600 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 19th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $587,511.18. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 0.4 %

JBHT stock opened at $171.54 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $160.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.20. The company has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.90% and a return on equity of 14.77%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 27.30%.

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.