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

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC trimmed its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,637,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 18,625 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 1.62% of J.B. Hunt Transport Services worth $279,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 123.9% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 14,486 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 8,017 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 99,621 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $17,170,000 after acquiring an additional 1,689 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 205,413 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,399,000 after purchasing an additional 28,296 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 108,590 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,713,000 after purchasing an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services during the third quarter worth $257,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director James K. Thompson sold 4,400 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 23,559 shares in the company, valued at $4,131,541.83. This represents a 15.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Darren P. Field sold 1,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.67, for a total transaction of $194,004.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 17,822 shares in the company, valued at $2,881,282.74. This represents a 6.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 market capitalization of $14.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average is $162.28 and its 200 day moving average is $172.09. 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, 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, January 16th. The transportation company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by ($0.09). J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 4.72% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.47 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 6.37 earnings per share for the current year.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid 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 was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “hold” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $167.00 to $161.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Susquehanna lowered J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $165.00 in a report on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $184.05.

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.