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J.B. Hunt (JBHT) Rewards Investors With 5% Dividend Hike

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In a shareholder-friendly move, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT - Free Report) has announced a hike in its dividend payout. JBHT’s board of directors has approved a dividend hike of 5%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend from 40 cents per share to 42 cents. The raised dividend will be paid out on Feb 24, 2023, to all its shareholders of record as of Feb 10, 2023. The move reflects JBHT’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.

J.B. Hunt has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks which are encouraging. Last year too (in January 2022), J.B. Hunt hiked its dividend by 33% to 40 cents per share (annually: $1.60).

In 2021, JBHT rewarded its shareholders through a combination of cash dividends ($124.44 million) and share repurchases ($28.47 million). Continuing the shareholder-friendly approach, the company returned approximately $886 million to shareholders through a combination of dividends ($114.23 million) and share buybacks ($26.84 million) during 2020.

Dividend-paying stocks provide a solid income stream and have fewer chances of experiencing wild price swings. Dividend stocks, like JBHT, are safe bets for creating wealth, as the payouts generally act as a hedge against economic uncertainty like the current scenario. 

JBHT’s management’s decision to increase its quarterly dividend payout reflects the company’s commitment toward boosting shareholder value apart from underlining confidence in its business. We believe such shareholder-friendly initiatives boost investor confidence and positively impact the company’s bottom line.

Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider

Currently, J.B. Hunt carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader Zacks Transportation sector are American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) ), Teekay Tankers Ltd. (TNK - Free Report) ) and Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes S.A. . Teekay Tankers presently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), while American Airlines and Gol Linhas currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

AAL has an expected earnings growth rate of more than 100% for the current year. AAL delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.62%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAL’s current-year earnings has improved 19.3% over the past 90 days. Shares of AAL have gained 18.8% over the past six months.

Teekay Tankers has an expected earnings growth rate of 143.11% for the current year. TNK delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 42.23%, on average. Teekay Tankers has a long-term expected growth rate of 3%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for TNK’s current-year earnings has improved more than 100% over the past 90 days. Shares of TNK have soared 44.8% over the past six months.

Gol Linhas has an expected earnings growth rate of 50.9% for the current year.

Shares of GOL have declined 2.3% over the past six months.

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