Zacks Research Upgrades Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) to Strong-Buy

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Landstar System from $198.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wolfe Research upgraded Landstar System from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $214.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $186.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Landstar System from $155.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Landstar System from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $196.00.

Landstar System Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LSTR opened at $181.62 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $206.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a PE ratio of 47.05 and a beta of 0.90. Landstar System has a one year low of $119.32 and a one year high of $228.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.82.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The transportation company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.05). Landstar System had a net margin of 2.64% and a return on equity of 20.84%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Landstar System will post 5.8 EPS for the current year.

Landstar System announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase 1,115,195,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to buy up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $218.17, for a total transaction of $261,804.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 15,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,299,166.74. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Diana M. Murphy sold 11,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.28, for a total value of $2,488,514.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,853 shares in the company, valued at $4,171,791.84. The trade was a 37.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.74% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LSTR. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Landstar System by 196.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,149 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 4,075 shares in the last quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 486,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $69,862,000 after acquiring an additional 145,035 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System in the 4th quarter worth about $35,280,000. Manatuck Hill Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System in the 4th quarter worth about $862,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 89,079 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,801,000 after purchasing an additional 23,704 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

About Landstar System

Landstar System, Inc provides integrated transportation management solutions through a network of independent agents and third-party capacity providers. The company specializes in truckload brokerage, intermodal, air and ocean freight, expedited and heavy-haul services, along with value-added offerings such as cargo insurance, customs brokerage and supply chain management. Landstar’s proprietary technology platform enables real-time load matching, shipment tracking and data analytics to optimize fleet utilization and improve customer service.

Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Landstar pioneered an asset-light brokerage model that has evolved into a global logistics operation.