Short Interest in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Increases By 14.5%

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) saw a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,980,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the October 15th total of 1,730,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 843,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

In other J.B. Hunt Transport Services news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,650 shares in the company, valued at $2,321,275. The trade was a 10.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.21, for a total transaction of $427,262.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,050 shares in the company, valued at $786,550.50. The trade was a 35.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,314 shares of company stock valued at $1,534,052. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 29,302 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,838,000 after acquiring an additional 5,767 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,769,777 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,946,628,000 after acquiring an additional 25,109 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 4,278 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 190,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,861,000 after acquiring an additional 3,910 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JBHT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $188.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT traded up $1.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $183.92. 87,023 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 866,918. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 12 month low of $153.12 and a 12 month high of $219.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $175.60 and a 200-day moving average of $168.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.14.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.07. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 13.92%. The business had revenue of $3.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.80 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 5.7 EPS 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, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.27%.

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.