Susquehanna Initiates Coverage on Ryder System (NYSE:R)

Susquehanna started coverage on shares of Ryder System (NYSE:R - Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a positive rating and a $215.00 price target on the transportation company's stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ryder System from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $159.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Barclays started coverage on shares of Ryder System in a research report on Monday, June 9th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Baird R W raised shares of Ryder System to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ryder System from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ryder System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ryder System has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $179.43.

Ryder System Price Performance

NYSE:R traded down $2.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.76. The stock had a trading volume of 625,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 371,770. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.17. Ryder System has a 12 month low of $123.36 and a 12 month high of $177.40.

Ryder System (NYSE:R - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.17 billion. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.96% and a return on equity of 17.64%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ryder System will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryder System Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 19th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. This is an increase from Ryder System's previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Ryder System's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director E Follin Smith sold 1,243 shares of Ryder System stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.38, for a total transaction of $179,464.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 39,802 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,746,612.76. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert E. Sanchez sold 18,496 shares of Ryder System stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 40,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,357,521.52. This represents a 31.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ryder System

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of R. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ryder System in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC increased its position in Ryder System by 116.5% during the first quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 223 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 61.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 287 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Curat Global LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ryder System during the first quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Ryder System during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.47% 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.