J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.35 EPS

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT – Get Rating) issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The transportation company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.35, MarketWatch Earnings reports. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.32 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 EPS.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $171.45. 1,761,257 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 884,284. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.32. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $155.11 and a 12 month high of $218.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $194.16.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 4th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 22.41%.

Several research firms recently weighed in on JBHT. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $242.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 5th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $230.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $210.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 12th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Vertical Research upgraded J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 2nd. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $205.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.94.

In other news, EVP Stuart Lockard Scott sold 5,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.00, for a total value of $1,056,289.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Bradley W. Hicks sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.94, for a total transaction of $163,952.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,038 shares of company stock worth $1,563,251. Insiders own 3.10% of the company’s stock.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 65.2% during the second quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 351,153 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,219,000 after acquiring an additional 138,577 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 23,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,783,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 5,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,070,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 5,012 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 561 shares during the period. 71.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile (Get Rating)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc provides surface transportation, delivery, and logistic services in North America. 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.

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