Heartland Advisors, an investment management company, released its “Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund” fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. As the overall stock market continues to widen, mid-caps are not experiencing the same. The high-quality value stocks continue to underperform, while speculative, low-quality, and momentum-driven sections of the market have received significant attention, and the valuation gaps are widening further. Against this backdrop, the Fund’s portfolio lost 1.92% in the quarter, versus the Russell Midcap® Value Index’s 1.42% return. The underperformance of its Quality Value holdings hit the performance of the strategy in the quarter. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2025.
In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks such as J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT). J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is a US based freight and logistics company. On January 12, 2026, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) stock closed at $206.33 per share. One-month return of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was 4.86%, and its shares gained 13.61% of their value over the last 52 weeks. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) has a market capitalization of $19.973 billion.
Heartland Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) in its fourth quarter 2025 investor letter:
“Industrials. One area of encouragement is Industrials where J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) was our top contributor in the sector and for our portfolio in the quarter.
J.B. Hunt, which falls into the Deep Value bucket, is a diversified transportation company focusing on intermodal shipping. Customers hire Hunt to move freight using different methods of transportation to reduce cost. The company owns the largest fleet of 53-foot shipping containers, which allow for three ocean-freight shipping units to be consolidated into two Hunt containers that can then be moved by rail and company-owned trucks. Hunt’s “mode agnostic” approach sets it apart from the competition, as does its size. JBHT’s intermodal business is roughly twice as big as the next largest competitor, resulting in a scale and cost advantage that has produced high returns on capital and better prices for customers.
In recent years, the freight market has been put through the wringer, as supply chains during and after the pandemic experienced a tremendous amount of volatility. In Q3, however, Hunt beat analysts’ forecasts, owing to recent actions to reduce costs. Management’s focus on improving areas that they can control seems to be working, as operating margins for JBHT’s intermodal segment expanded by 100 basis points year over year, despite fewer loads shipped in the quarter…” (Click here to read the full text)
J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. According to our database, 38 hedge fund portfolios held J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) at the end of the third quarter, up from 37 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we covered J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) and shared the list of stocks Jim Cramer discussed. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
