Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on LSTR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Landstar System from $161.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Landstar System from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Landstar System from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Landstar System in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Landstar System from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Landstar System Stock Up 4.8%

LSTR stock opened at $176.04 on Friday. Landstar System has a fifty-two week low of $119.32 and a fifty-two week high of $195.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $165.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.63 and a beta of 0.85.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. Landstar System had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 2.62%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Landstar System will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 19th. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.20%.

Landstar System announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase 1,115,195,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Landstar System

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 108.3% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 173,362 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $27,792,000 after acquiring an additional 90,153 shares during the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. now owns 34,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,585,000 after acquiring an additional 7,935 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System during the 1st quarter worth approximately $320,000. Waverly Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System during the 1st quarter worth approximately $270,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System during the 1st quarter worth approximately $8,301,000. 97.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Landstar System

Landstar System, Inc provides integrated transportation management solutions through a network of independent agents and third-party capacity providers. The company specializes in truckload brokerage, intermodal, air and ocean freight, expedited and heavy-haul services, along with value-added offerings such as cargo insurance, customs brokerage and supply chain management. Landstar’s proprietary technology platform enables real-time load matching, shipment tracking and data analytics to optimize fleet utilization and improve customer service.

Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Landstar pioneered an asset-light brokerage model that has evolved into a global logistics operation.