J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Short Interest Up 14.8% in December

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a growth of 14.8% from the November 30th total of 2,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 859,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of JBHT stock traded down $1.68 on Monday, reaching $170.33. The company had a trading volume of 388,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,855. The company has a 50-day moving average of $181.56 and a 200-day moving average of $172.05. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 13.92% and a net margin of 4.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 31.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $185.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 82,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,092,976.08. This represents a 6.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at approximately $786,550.50. This trade represents a 35.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,459 shares of company stock worth $2,136,277 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,374,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $581,567,000 after purchasing an additional 22,563 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $566,944,000 after buying an additional 19,826 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.7% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,685,068 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $269,611,000 after purchasing an additional 105,500 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,446,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $231,416,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 25.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 953,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $152,589,000 after purchasing an additional 193,684 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company 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.