Northern Trust Corp Buys 61,477 Shares of Landstar System, Inc. $LSTR

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Landstar System, acquiring an additional 61,477 shares, raising its total ownership to 734,256 shares, valued at approximately $110.3 million.
• Landstar System's quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.20, surpassing analysts' estimates by $0.04, while revenue remained steady at $1.21 billion.
• The company announced a $0.40 quarterly dividend, representing a 1.2% yield, scheduled for payment on September 9th to investors of record on August 19th.

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 734,256 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,477 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 2.10% of Landstar System worth $110,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LSTR. Reinhart Partners LLC. bought a new position in Landstar System in the first quarter valued at about $42,887,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Landstar System in the first quarter valued at about $34,540,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Landstar System by 116.4% in the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 274,671 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $47,205,000 after purchasing an additional 147,756 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 90,391 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Landstar System in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,233,000. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Landstar System Stock Down 1.4%

Landstar System stock traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $131.17. The stock had a trading volume of 193,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 372,104. Landstar System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $123.43 and a fifty-two week high of $196.86. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $136.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50 and a beta of 0.86.

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

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Landstar System's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on LSTR shares. Baird R W upgraded Landstar System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Landstar System from $139.00 to $138.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Landstar System in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Barclays initiated coverage on Landstar System in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna set a $123.00 price objective on Landstar System and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Landstar System currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $145.17.

About Landstar System

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.