Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. JBHT rallied 2.0% toward a nine-week high in afternoon trading Thursday, after the trucking company said it was raising its quarterly dividend by 5%. The new dividend of 42 cents a share, up from 40 cents a share, will be payable Feb. 24 to shareholders of record on Feb. 10. At current share prices, the new annual dividend rate implies a dividend yield of 0.89%, which compares with the implied yield for the S&P 500 SPX of 1.72%. The stock has now run up 7.1% in two days even though the trucker reported before Wednesday’s open fourth-quarter profit and revenue that missed expectations. It has climbed 12.4% over the past three months, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average DJT has advanced 11.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA has gained 9.1%.
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