UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades J.B. Hunt Transport on Strong Secular Growth Story

In a report published Friday, Bank of America analyst Ken Hoexter upgraded the rating on

from Neutral to Buy, and reiterated the $81.00 price target. In the report, Bank of America noted, “We are upgrading JB Hunt to Buy from Neutral and maintain our PO of $81. The stock is currently trading at 19.5x on our 2014 EPS of $3.60, near the lower end of its recent 18x-22x trading range. Recall, we moved to Neutral in January on valuation, as the stock was trading at 22x our 2013 estimate, the upper end of its historical range. In our view JBHT is a solid secular growth story given its core Intermodal business improvement. While we recognize near-term weakness heading into earnings, primarily driven by higher costs in its non-core segments Dedicated and Truck, we believe this to be a temporary overhang on the stock.” J.B. Hunt Transport Services closed on Thursday at $72.14.