Hedge Funds Are Betting On J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (JBHT)

The 700+ hedge funds and money managers tracked by Insider Monkey have already compiled and submitted their 13F filings for the third quarter, which unveil their equity positions as of September 30. We went through these filings, fixed typos and other more significant errors and identified the changes in hedge fund positions. Our extensive review of these public filings is finally over, so this article is set to reveal the smart money sentiment towards J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT).

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was in 32 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of September. JBHT shareholders have witnessed an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. There were 23 hedge funds in our database with JBHT holdings at the end of the previous quarter. The level and the change in hedge fund popularity aren’t the only variables you need to analyze to decipher hedge funds’ perspectives. A stock may witness a boost in popularity, but it may still be less popular than similarly priced stocks. That’s why at the end of this article we will examine companies such as Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA), F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:IHG) to gather more data points.

In the eyes of most stock holders, hedge funds are assumed to be slow, outdated financial vehicles of years past. While there are greater than 8000 funds with their doors open at present, Our researchers look at the moguls of this club, around 700 funds. These money managers preside over bulk of the hedge fund industry’s total capital, and by observing their unrivaled equity investments, Insider Monkey has revealed a few investment strategies that have historically surpassed the market. Insider Monkey’s small-cap hedge fund strategy beat the S&P 500 index by 12 percentage points per annum for a decade in their back tests.

Keeping this in mind, we’re going to take a glance at the key action encompassing J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT).

How are hedge funds trading J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT)?

At Q3’s end, a total of 32 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held long positions in this stock, up by 39% from the previous quarter. With hedge funds’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were upping their stakes significantly (or already accumulated large positions).

According to publicly available hedge fund and institutional investor holdings data compiled by Insider Monkey, Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, holds the most valuable position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). According to its latest quarterly report, the fund holds $49.5 million worth of stock, comprising less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio. The second most bullish fund manager is Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, which holds a $48.2 million position; 0.1% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Remaining peers that are bullish encompass John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors, Lee Hicks and Jan Koerner’s Park Presidio Capital and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.

As one would reasonably expect, some big names were breaking ground themselves. Lodge Hill Capital, managed by Clint Murray, established the biggest position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). The fund reportedly had $11.5 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Jonathan Barrett and Paul Segal’s Luminus Management also made a $10.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with new positions in the stock are Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management, and Paul Orlin and Alex Porter’s Amici Capital.

Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). We will take a look at Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA), F5 Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:FFIV), InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (ADR) (NYSE:IHG), and Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS). This group of stocks’ market valuations are similar to JBHT’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 20 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $412 million. That figure was $337 million in JBHT’s case. Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA) is the least popular one with only 9 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.