J.B. Hunt stock rallies again after dividend increased by 5%

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.
JBHT,
-0.10%
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,
-0.76%
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,
-1.30%
has advanced 11.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
-0.76%
has gained 9.1%.