Call traders are coming out of the woodwork today
The shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc (NASDAQ:JBHT) are up 3% at $136.49 at last check, after the logistics and truck name turned in an impressive second-quarter earnings and revenue beat. The company was helped by a rebound in freight demand towards the end of the quarter, as the country began to reopen. Following the report, Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to "hold" from "sell," and was one of nine analysts to raise their price targets, including Citigroup all the way to $150 from $137.
Eyeing its fourth-straight day of gains, the stock scored a fresh record high of $136.96 out of the gate. Year-over-year, JBHT is up 35.6%, and recent support emerged at the shares' 30-day moving average, which cushioned a consolidation phase last month.
Coming into today, five of the 16 analysts in coverage sport a "buy" or better rating, with 10 at a hold, and one at a "strong sell." Today's round of upgrades was thus appropriate, in that the consensus 12- month price target of $134.37 was a 1.4% premium to last night's close.
JB Hunt's usually quiet options pits have sprung to life. In just the first half hour of trading, calls were going at 19 times the average intraday amount. Leading the charge is the July 135 and 140-strike calls, while new positions were also being opened at the November 175 call.