Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 18,625 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,637,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 18,625 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $279,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JBHT. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2,028.6% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. National Pension Service bought a new stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 281 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 68.7% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 329 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on JBHT. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Susquehanna lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $189.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.05.

Insider Activity at J.B. Hunt Transport Services

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

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $146.12 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $14.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.09. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $144.34 and a fifty-two week high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

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.