Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC Takes $40.48 Million Position in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC acquired a new position in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 258,035 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $40,475,000. Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.61% of Ryder System at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of R. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ryder System in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ryder System in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Ryder System in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ryder System in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. 87.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on R shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ryder System from $174.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Stephens reduced their target price on Ryder System from $168.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ryder System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $160.50.

Ryder System Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of R stock traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.46. 297,059 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,022. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 0.94. Ryder System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $116.58 and a fifty-two week high of $171.78. The stock's 50 day moving average is $142.10 and its 200-day moving average is $154.23.

Ryder System (NYSE:R - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. Ryder System had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 3.87%. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ryder System, Inc. will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryder System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Ryder System's payout ratio is 28.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director E Follin Smith sold 1,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.38, for a total value of $179,464.34. Following the sale, the director now owns 39,802 shares in the company, valued at $5,746,612.76. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

About Ryder System

Ryder System, Inc operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full-service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers; access to diesel fuel; and fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing, as well as sells used vehicles through its retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website, as well as digital and technology support services.