Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in Landstar System, Inc. $LSTR

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc cut its Landstar System stake by 19.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 13,516 shares and leaving it with 57,193 shares valued at about $8.2 million.
• Landstar reported better-than-expected earnings for the quarter, with EPS of $1.16 versus the $1.11 consensus and revenue of $1.17 billion, slightly above estimates.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share and a share repurchase authorization covering up to 3.3% of outstanding stock, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold.

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR - Free Report) by 19.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,193 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 13,516 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.17% of Landstar System worth $8,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LSTR. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Landstar System by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 20,585 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Landstar System by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,129 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in Landstar System by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 2,313 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in Landstar System by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 16,188 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,250,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Landstar System by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,603 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $374,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.95% of the company's stock.

Landstar System Stock Down 0.7%

LSTR opened at $218.06 on Friday. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $181.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. Landstar System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.32 and a twelve month high of $224.85. The firm has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.16 billion. Landstar System had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Landstar System, Inc. will post 5.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to buyback 1,115,195,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to repurchase up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Landstar System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Landstar System's dividend payout ratio is 44.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LSTR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $193.00 price target on shares of Landstar System in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Landstar System from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Landstar System from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Landstar System from $147.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $181.00 target price on shares of Landstar System in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $183.00.

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.

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