Aristides Capital LLC Buys Shares of 1,167 J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,167 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% during the 1st 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. grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,168,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $433,186,000 after purchasing an additional 62,313 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7,720.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 983,703 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $196,485,000 after purchasing an additional 971,124 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $185,299,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 887,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $177,336,000 after buying an additional 120,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, Director Persio V. Lisboa bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $163.47 per share, for a total transaction of $98,082.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $587,511.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBHT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $151.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $162.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $177.00 to $173.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $210.00 to $192.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $215.00 to $199.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.88.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

NASDAQ JBHT traded up $0.76 on Friday, reaching $171.54. 711,246 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,064,884. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.04. The stock has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.19). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.77% and a net margin of 4.90%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

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

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.