J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) Downgraded by Susquehanna to “Neutral”

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) was downgraded by Susquehanna from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $165.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $200.00. Susquehanna’s price objective points to a potential upside of 10.04% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on JBHT. UBS Group cut their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $211.00 to $196.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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 report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 report on Wednesday, January 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $200.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $204.00 to $193.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, J.B. Hunt Transport Services currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.05.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Down 1.4 %

J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $149.95 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a one year low of $144.34 and a one year high of $200.40.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total value of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,881,282.74. The trade was a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.B. Hunt Transport Services

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,390,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $578,572,000 after buying an additional 15,476 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,289,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $566,944,000 after acquiring an additional 19,826 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,124,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $362,554,000 after acquiring an additional 104,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,997,568 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $340,049,000 after acquiring an additional 8,968 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,319,637 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,209,000 after purchasing an additional 8,725 shares during the last quarter. 74.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.