Zacks Research Upgrades Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) to Hold

Key Points

• Zacks Research upgraded Landstar System from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting a more cautious outlook.
• Recent analyst reports have cut the price targets for Landstar System, with the consensus target now set at $145.17.
• Landstar System's latest quarterly earnings exceeded estimates, reporting $1.20 per share and $1.21 billion in revenue, although revenue was down 1.1% from the previous year.

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR - Free Report) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, September 8th,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on LSTR. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $154.00 to $149.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Susquehanna set a $123.00 target price on shares of Landstar System and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Landstar System from $140.00 to $131.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Landstar System in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Landstar System from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $145.17.

Landstar System Stock Up 0.7%

Landstar System stock traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $129.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 108,912 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,474. The company has a market capitalization of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11 and a beta of 0.84. Landstar System has a 12 month low of $123.43 and a 12 month high of $196.86. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $134.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR - Get Free Report) last released 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. Landstar System had a net margin of 3.51% and a return on equity of 17.49%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Landstar System will post 6.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Landstar System Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 19th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Landstar System's payout ratio is 33.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Landstar System

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Landstar System by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 4,083,704 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $613,372,000 after buying an additional 319,101 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Landstar System by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,654,910 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $248,567,000 after buying an additional 33,399 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Landstar System by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,419,718 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $197,310,000 after buying an additional 176,601 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Landstar System by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 734,256 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $110,285,000 after buying an additional 61,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Landstar System by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 731,615 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $101,709,000 after buying an additional 46,547 shares in the last quarter. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.