Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,461 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $2,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,000. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 4.4% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 37.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 236,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,698,000 after buying an additional 64,380 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 3,586 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. This trade represents a 6.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total value of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on JBHT. Raymond James lowered their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $190.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $164.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.70.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of JBHT opened at $132.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $13.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $154.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.43. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $127.05 and a 52 week high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.47 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services 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.