Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) Stock Price Up 4.8% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) were up 4.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $180.10 and last traded at $179.39. Approximately 341,235 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 272,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.10.

The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.04. Landstar System had a return on equity of 23.17% and a net margin of 4.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 8th will be issued a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on LSTR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Landstar System from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Landstar System from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Landstar System from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Landstar System from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.09.

Insider Activity at Landstar System

In related news, VP Michael K. Kneller sold 12,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.30, for a total transaction of $2,325,275.70. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 61,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,632,468.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LSTR. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Landstar System during the 4th quarter worth approximately $64,175,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Landstar System by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,394,389 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $270,024,000 after purchasing an additional 224,286 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Landstar System by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 417,932 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,949,000 after purchasing an additional 148,490 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of Landstar System by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,315,000 after purchasing an additional 79,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of Landstar System by 359.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 80,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,507,000 after purchasing an additional 62,667 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

Landstar System Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $184.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $183.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a PEG ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.83.

Landstar System Company Profile

Landstar System, Inc provides integrated transportation management solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and internationally. It operates through two segments: Transportation Logistics and Insurance. The Transportation Logistics segment offers a range of transportation services, including truckload and less-than-truckload transportation, rail intermodal, air cargo, ocean cargo, expedited ground and air delivery of time-critical freight, heavy-haul/specialized, U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico cross-border, intra-Mexico, intra-Canada, project cargo, and customs brokerage, as well as offers transportation services to other transportation companies, such as third party logistics and less-than-truckload services.