Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) by 5.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 129,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 7,683 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Ryder System were worth $20,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Ryder System in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ryder System during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on R shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Ryder System from $160.00 to $183.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ryder System from $176.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.00.

Ryder System Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of R opened at $133.81 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $153.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $155.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.10. Ryder System, Inc. has a 12-month low of $106.88 and a 12-month high of $171.78.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.06. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 17.23%. Equities research analysts expect that Ryder System, Inc. will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryder System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio is 29.22%.

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.