J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Short Interest Down 7.2% in December

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,590,000 shares, a decrease of 7.2% from the December 15th total of 2,790,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 848,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $275,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,275. This trade represents a 10.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total transaction of $26,494.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $127,904. This represents a 17.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,459 shares of company stock valued at $2,136,277 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J.B. Hunt Transport Services

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JBHT. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 47.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 237 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank raised its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 21.8% in the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 341 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on JBHT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.67.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of JBHT traded down $13.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $172.45. The company had a trading volume of 3,299,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 555,105. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $219.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.95. The stock has a market cap of $17.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 1.16. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.