Caxton Associates LLP Purchases New Holdings in Landstar System, Inc. $LSTR

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has purchased a new stake in Landstar System, acquiring 5,986 shares valued at approximately $899,000 during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Ameriprise Financial Inc. and Golden State Wealth Management LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Landstar System, with nearly 98% of the company's stock now held by institutional investors.
• Analyst ratings for Landstar System have varied, with Baird R W upgrading the stock to a "strong-buy" while other firms maintained "hold" ratings, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average target price of $145.17.

Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,986 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $899,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 120.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 165,297 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,408,000 after buying an additional 90,391 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Landstar System by 0.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 81,244 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $12,203,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Landstar System by 106.2% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 299 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Landstar System by 31.7% during the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 8,156 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,961 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Landstar System by 1.2% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 197,786 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $29,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,318 shares during the last quarter. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on LSTR. Baird R W upgraded Landstar System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Zacks Research upgraded Landstar System from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays began coverage on Landstar System in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Landstar System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Landstar System from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.17.

Landstar System Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of LSTR opened at $129.74 on Thursday. Landstar System, Inc. has a 52 week low of $123.43 and a 52 week high of $196.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.64 and a 200-day moving average of $139.86.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The transportation company reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.04. Landstar System had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 3.51%.The company had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. Landstar System's revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Landstar System, Inc. will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. Landstar System's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.54%.

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.

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