UPDATE: Piper Jaffray Raises PT on JB Hunt to $52 (JBHT)

Piper Jaffray is out with its report on JB Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT), raising its PT from $48 to $52.

In a note to clients, Piper Jaffray writes, "Yesterday after the market JBHT reported 1Q11 EPS of $0.40 (+40.6% y-o-y) above Consensus $0.38 and our $0.36 estimate. Operating upside (+$0.04) to our estimate was split between Intermodal and Truck as both divisions reported better volume and yields. We believe Intermodal vol and yield upside are indicative of a general reacceleration in Freight during 1Q11 above seasonality combined with JBHT Intermodal taking TL incremental market share sooner than expected. TL market tightness enabled JBHT to post significant improvement in Truck and to a lesser extent Dedicated yields. We continue to believe JBHT remains the best mouse trap to capture net positive TL market supply constraint fallout – vol shift from TL to Intermodal and upside TL price. We reiterate our Overweight rating and raise our price target to $52."

Shares of JBHT closed Wednesday at $44.60, down 0.47% from Tuesday's close.