National Bank of Canada FI Raises Holdings in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) by 346.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,796 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Landstar System were worth $1,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 28.1% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 59,005 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,144,000 after purchasing an additional 12,931 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Landstar System during the third quarter worth about $1,228,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 419.3% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 3,682 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $695,000 after acquiring an additional 2,973 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 3,775.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 334,853 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $63,243,000 after purchasing an additional 326,212 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 162,222 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,639,000 after buying an additional 12,894 shares during the period. 97.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.32, for a total value of $184,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 14,083 shares in the company, valued at $2,595,778.56. This represents a 6.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Landstar System from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Landstar System from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $174.25.

Landstar System Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LSTR opened at $185.27 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.61 and a 200-day moving average of $183.95. Landstar System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $165.39 and a 12 month high of $201.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The transportation company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by ($0.04). Landstar System had a net margin of 4.32% and a return on equity of 20.68%. The business had revenue of $1.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Landstar System, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current year.

Landstar System Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be given a $2.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, January 7th. This is a positive change from Landstar System’s previous special dividend of $1.50. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.70%.

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.