Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 140.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 363 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 212 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 32,899 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,659,000 after purchasing an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 119.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 112,116 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,134,000 after purchasing an additional 60,926 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 216,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,004,000 after purchasing an additional 25,492 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 8,115 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 192,712 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,023 shares in the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Up 2.5 %

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $174.26 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $173.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. The company has a market cap of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.15. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $153.12 and a fifty-two week high of $214.39.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 EPS for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s payout ratio is 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on JBHT. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $180.00 to $171.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $195.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.37, for a total transaction of $771,628.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,131,541.83. The trade was a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Shelley Simpson sold 6,000 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $183.47, for a total value of $1,100,820.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,092,976.08. This trade represents a 6.80 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,545 shares of company stock valued at $1,898,942 over the last quarter. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.