Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) Short Interest Update

Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of 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. Approximately 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 280,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Landstar System Stock Performance

LSTR stock traded up $2.01 on Friday, hitting $161.80. The company had a trading volume of 260,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,663. Landstar System has a 12-month low of $157.99 and a 12-month high of $196.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.05. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31 and a beta of 0.83.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) 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, equities research analysts expect that Landstar System will post 6.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LSTR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $164.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $177.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $170.40.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 3,250 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,378 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $638,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,608 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

Landstar System Company Profile

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.