Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 865,900 shares, a growth of 43.9% from the January 15th total of 601,700 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 280,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on LSTR shares. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Landstar System in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Landstar System from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Landstar System from $184.00 to $177.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Landstar System from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Landstar System currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.40.

Landstar System Trading Up 1.3 %

LSTR traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $161.80. The stock had a trading volume of 260,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,663. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31 and a beta of 0.83. Landstar System has a 1-year low of $157.99 and a 1-year high of $196.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 2.21.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.04). Landstar System had a return on equity of 19.56% and a net margin of 4.07%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Landstar System will post 6.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Landstar System’s payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Landstar System

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in Landstar System by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 2,888 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Landstar System during the third quarter worth about $378,000. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 8.3% during the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 21,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,067,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Landstar System by 64.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,774 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $327,000 after buying an additional 695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in Landstar System by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 150,764 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,475,000 after acquiring an additional 4,345 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

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.