Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Invests $247,000 in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,723 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $247,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 69.8% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $160,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at $831,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.6% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 6,465 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 3,521 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 59.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,819 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,266,000 after buying an additional 3,277 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the second quarter valued at $863,000. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.00, for a total transaction of $1,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,192,944. The trade was a 33.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Mcgee bought 1,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $140.76 per share, with a total value of $161,592.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 7,397 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,041,201.72. This represents a 18.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 2.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on JBHT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $153.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ JBHT opened at $166.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $15.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52 week low of $122.79 and a 52 week high of $200.40. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $145.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.02 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 15.16% and a net margin of 4.75%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 22nd that authorizes the company to buyback $0.00 in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is presently 30.50%.

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.