J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of 0.43 per share by the transportation company on Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 15.9% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 21 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 24.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $7.43 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.1%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JBHT opened at $192.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $173.10 and a 200 day moving average of $167.04. The firm has a market cap of $19.44 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.14. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $153.12 and a one year high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total value of $275,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,321,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.03, for a total transaction of $525,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,476,674.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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 directly owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,700 shares of company stock worth $1,227,602 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JBHT. TD Cowen raised their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $160.00 to $182.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $183.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $187.56.

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.