Ryder System (NYSE:R) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ryder System (NYSE:R) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

R has been the subject of several other reports. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Ryder System from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Ryder System from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ryder System from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ryder System from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $116.00.

Ryder System Price Performance

Shares of Ryder System stock opened at $118.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.62. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.58. Ryder System has a twelve month low of $76.15 and a twelve month high of $121.58. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.40.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The transportation company reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.20. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.45% and a return on equity of 19.68%. The business had revenue of $3.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ryder System will post 11.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryder System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ryder System news, CMO Karen M. Jones sold 7,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.48, for a total value of $877,994.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 12,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,406,698.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryder System

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of R. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ryder System by 115,284.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,378,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,338,000 after buying an additional 3,375,533 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Ryder System by 1,051.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,551,559 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,889,000 after purchasing an additional 2,329,880 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Ryder System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,647,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ryder System by 1,077.7% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 578,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,601,000 after purchasing an additional 528,961 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ryder System by 1,617.3% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 474,832 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $41,676,000 after purchasing an additional 447,182 shares during the period. 87.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ryder System

Ryder System, Inc operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full-service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers; access to diesel fuel; and fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing, as well as sells used vehicles through its retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website, as well as digital and technology support services.