Nicholas Hobbs
HUNT J B TRANSPORT SERVICESAbout Nicholas Hobbs
Nicholas Hobbs (age 62) is Chief Operating Officer, President of Highway and Final Mile Services, and Executive Vice President at J.B. Hunt (JBHT). He joined J.B. Hunt in 1984 as a Management Trainee and has served in senior operating roles, including President of Contract Services, reflecting deep operational tenure across segments . Executive pay design links Hobbs’s incentives to company performance via annual operating income and multi‑year ROIC constructs; 2021 long‑term awards vested above target on company EBITDA CAGR (11.7%) and ROIC (67.9th percentile vs peer group), evidencing pay-for-performance alignment .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| J.B. Hunt Transport Services | COO; President, Highway & Final Mile Services; EVP | Not disclosed (current as of 2025) | Oversees Highway and Final Mile operations and enterprise COO responsibilities |
| J.B. Hunt Transport Services | President, Contract Services | Not disclosed (prior to 2025) | Led Dedicated/Contract Services growth and operations |
Fixed Compensation
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Salary ($) | 675,000 | 700,000 | 722,400 |
| Target Bonus (% of Salary) | Not disclosed | 80% (NEOs; matrix target) | 100% (NEOs; new 2025 plan) |
| Actual Bonus Paid ($) | 0 (no non‑equity entry) | 0 (operating income below threshold) | Not yet determined (new plan for 2025) |
Perquisites and 401(k) contributions (2024):
- Perquisites: $16,493 (security: $1,068; legal/accounting: $1,995; club dues: $12,056; other: $1,374)
- Company 401(k) contributions: $10,350
Performance Compensation
Annual Incentive Plan (AIP)
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Operating Income | 100% | OI range: $938mm (min), $1,104mm (target), $1,269mm (max) | $831mm | 0% of salary (no payout) | Single cash payout in Jan 2025 |
| 2025 Operating Income | 70% | 85%–115% of targeted OI | Not disclosed | 25%–200% of salary (NEOs), 100% target | Single cash payout after FY2025 |
| 2025 Revenue excl. Fuel Surcharge | 15% | 85%–115% of targeted revenue excl. FSC | Not disclosed | As above (part of composite) | As above |
| 2025 Preventable Collisions per MM miles (safety) | 15% | Target range; measured inversely for safety performance | Not disclosed | As above (part of composite) | As above |
Long-Term Incentives (RSUs/PSUs)
| Grant Year | Type | Metric | Weighting | Units Granted (Target) | Vesting Terms | Payout Scale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | PSU | Operating Income | 75% (typical) | 9,032 | Annual tranches over 4 years (performance required each tranche) | Forfeiture if annual OI tranche target not met |
| 2024 | PSU | ROIC (3‑yr relative) | 25% (typical) | 3,011 | Single cliff vest Mar 31, 2027 (relative ROIC vs peer group) | 0%–200% of units depending on ROIC percentile |
| 2025 (program change) | PSU | ROIC (3‑yr relative) w/ OI growth modifier | 60% | Not disclosed (program structure) | 3‑year cliff vest; ±20% modifier based on OI CAGR; ultimate 0%–240% | |
| 2025 (program change) | RSU | Time‑based | 40% | Not disclosed (program structure) | Annual installments over 3 years (40%, 40%, 20%), transitioning to 40/30/30 in 2026 and 33/33/33 in 2027+ |
Historical vesting evidence: 2021 awards vested in 2024 at 120.0% (EBITDA CAGR 11.7%) and 135.8% (ROIC 67.9th percentile), highlighting multi‑year metric attainment .
Vesting Schedule (selected future tranches for Hobbs)
| Vest Date | Shares (Performance Tranches) |
|---|---|
| Jan 31, 2025 | 2,673; 2,105; 1,403; 2,434 (selected prior grants) |
| Jan 31, 2026 | 1,245; 2,105; 2,258 (selected) |
| Jan 31, 2027 | 1,245; 2,258; 2,236 (selected) |
| Mar 31, 2027 | 3,011 (2024 ROIC PSU cliff) |
RSUs vested in 2024: 15,049 shares; value realized $3,016,663; Hobbs retained 8,360 shares from vested awards .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Metric | Feb 20, 2024 | Feb 18, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Beneficially Owned Shares (Direct) | 107,978 | 113,461 |
| Beneficially Owned Shares (Indirect) | 168 | 168 |
| % of Shares Outstanding | <1% | <1% (based on 100,008,209 shares outstanding) |
| Shares Pledged as Collateral | None disclosed for Hobbs (pledging table lists others) | |
| Stock Ownership Guidelines | EVP: 3.5× base salary; all covered officers met or are within compliance window | |
| Hedging/Pledging & Trading Plans | Hedging prohibited; pledging allowed only under strict conditions and disclosure; pre‑clearance required for trades or 10b5‑1 plans |
Options: Company reports no outstanding stock options for NEOs; long‑term awards are RSUs/PSUs .
Insider Transactions (recent)
| Date | Action | Shares | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 23–24, 2025 | Open market purchase | 3,038 | ~$131.58 blended (reported) |
| Apr 22–23, 2025 | Purchases (two Form 4 entries) | 1,529; 1,509 | $130.75; $132.43 |
| Jan 30, 2025 | Sales (two entries) | 1,002; 1,215 | $171.22 |
| Mar 31–Apr 2, 2024 | Form 4 (vesting/transactions) | multiple entries (incl. 4,558 acquired; 2,022 sold) | $199.25 (sale) |
Note: April 2025 purchases modestly increased direct holdings; January 2025 and March 2024 transactions include routine sales around vesting dates per Form 4 records .
Employment Terms
- Contracts/severance: No individual employment contracts or predetermined personal severance agreements for executives .
- Change-in-control: Double‑trigger accelerated vesting (requires both “change in control” and termination without cause, good reason, or retirement); Committee may accelerate upon death/disability . Estimated value of immediate vesting for Hobbs at 12/31/2024 stock price: $6,146,661 .
- Non‑compete: Award agreements include a two‑year non‑competition covenant following cessation of employment .
- Clawbacks: Dodd‑Frank compliant recoupment policy for erroneously awarded incentive compensation following restatements; broad forfeiture/recoupment rights under MIP for policy breaches .
- Perquisites: Limited perqs (financial counseling up to $15,000; security; club memberships); aircraft personal use is tightly limited; RSUs receive no dividends until vesting .
- Deferred comp: No NEO participation in 2024; company offers a nonqualified deferred compensation plan to eligible employees .
Compensation Program Context
- Peer group for benchmarking (Meridian): 14 transportation/logistics peers (e.g., CHRW, CSX, Hub Group, Knight‑Swift, Norfolk Southern, ODFL, Republic Services, Ryder, Schneider, Union Pacific, Waste Management, XPO; later updated to include RXO and Werner and replace EXPD) .
- Say‑on‑Pay: 95.9% approval at 2024 Annual Meeting; annual vote frequency affirmed by shareholders .
- 2025 LTI design shift: Increased ROIC‑based cliff awards (60%) with OI CAGR modifier; time‑based portion 40%; elimination of operating income and EBITDA as singular performance measures in LTI to emphasize long‑term returns .
Investment Implications
- Strong alignment: Hobbs’s pay mix is heavily at‑risk (annual cash fully linked to operating income/safety/revenue; LTI based on relative ROIC with OI growth modifier; prior 2021 awards vested above target on multi‑year metrics), reinforcing pay‑for‑performance and capital discipline .
- Retention hooks vs. flexibility: Multi‑year RSU/PSU tranches and expanded cliff vesting increase retention but expose realized pay to execution on ROIC/OI growth; absence of individual severance multiples, plus double‑trigger CoC, limits windfall risks while maintaining continuity .
- Ownership and trading signals: Hobbs’s direct holdings increased YoY (107,978 → 113,461) and he made open‑market purchases in April 2025 after earlier small sales around vesting, suggesting ongoing alignment; no pledging disclosed for Hobbs under a strict pledging/hedging policy .
- Safety metric addition: Incorporation of preventable collisions into 2025 AIP adds an operational safety lever to cash compensation, potentially reducing volatility from macro freight swings by rewarding controllable performance .