J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.44 Per Share

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 24th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the transportation company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is a positive change from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has increased its dividend by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a payout ratio of 21.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.16 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 21.1%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of JBHT stock opened at $169.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $178.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.46. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a twelve month low of $153.12 and a twelve month high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.62 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on JBHT shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James reduced their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price 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, January 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.11.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other news, EVP Eric Mcgee sold 145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.72, for a total value of $26,494.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $127,904. The trade was a 17.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This trade represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,859 shares of company stock valued at $2,907,905. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.