UBS Group AG Grows Stake in Landstar System, Inc. $LSTR

UBS Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,352 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Landstar System were worth $17,797,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 151,424.4% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,294,325 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $904,495,000 after purchasing an additional 6,290,171 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 24.1% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,761,526 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $216,242,000 after purchasing an additional 341,808 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 31.8% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 964,297 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $118,184,000 after purchasing an additional 232,682 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 746,506 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $91,492,000 after purchasing an additional 21,163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Landstar System by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 646,691 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $79,258,000 after buying an additional 26,905 shares during the period. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LSTR. Robert W. Baird set a $193.00 price target on Landstar System in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $147.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Landstar System from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $181.00 target price on shares of Landstar System in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Landstar System from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Landstar System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.36.

Landstar System Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ LSTR opened at $175.74 on Wednesday. Landstar System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.32 and a fifty-two week high of $195.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a current ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $5.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.55 and a beta of 0.85. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $165.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $150.55.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.05. Landstar System had a return on equity of 19.49% and a net margin of 2.62%.The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Landstar System’s revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Landstar System, Inc. will post 5.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Landstar System announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that authorizes the company to buyback 1,115,195,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to reacquire up to 3.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Landstar System Company Profile

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.