Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the six ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $160.50.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on R shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ryder System from $174.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ryder System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on Ryder System from $168.00 to $150.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Follin Smith sold 1,243 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 approximately $5,746,612.76. This represents a 3.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert E. Sanchez sold 18,496 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.73, for a total value of $2,880,382.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 40,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,357,521.52. This trade represents a 31.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryder System

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in R. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Ryder System during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ryder System during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Ryder System during the first quarter worth $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 116.5% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 223 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ryder System by 61.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 287 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.47% of the company's stock.

Ryder System Trading Down 0.7%

R traded down $0.99 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $146.14. The stock had a trading volume of 419,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 324,264. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $144.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.94. Ryder System has a 1-year low of $116.58 and a 1-year high of $171.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Ryder System (NYSE:R - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. Ryder System had a return on equity of 17.23% and a net margin of 3.87%. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ryder System will post 13.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryder System Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Ryder System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.25%.

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.