J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.44 Per Share

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 24th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.44 per share by the transportation company on Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This is an increase from J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services has raised its dividend by an average of 13.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a dividend payout ratio of 21.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.B. Hunt Transport Services to earn $8.16 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.1%.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JBHT opened at $169.96 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $174.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94. J.B. Hunt Transport Services has a 1 year low of $153.12 and a 1 year high of $219.51.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.62 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 4.72%. The company’s revenue was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. On average, analysts expect that J.B. Hunt Transport Services will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.50, for a total transaction of $275,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,321,275. This trade represents a 10.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,859 shares of company stock worth $2,907,905. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna upgraded shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $193.00 to $189.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $173.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $191.11.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

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.