River Road Asset Management LLC Makes New $18.08 Million Investment in Landstar System, Inc. $LSTR

River Road Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 125,829 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,082,000. River Road Asset Management LLC owned about 0.37% of Landstar System at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Landstar System by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 20,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,523,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Landstar System by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,388 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $918,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Landstar System by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,129 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Landstar System by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 814 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 97.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LSTR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Landstar System from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Landstar System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $195.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Landstar System from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Landstar System from $147.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $185.91.

Landstar System Price Performance

Shares of LSTR opened at $207.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Landstar System, Inc. has a twelve month low of $119.32 and a twelve month high of $228.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.29 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.21 and a 200-day moving average of $165.33.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Landstar System had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 19.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Landstar System, Inc. will post 5.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 19th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 19th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.20%.

Landstar System announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, April 28th that allows the company to repurchase 1,115,195,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the transportation company to purchase up to 3.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Diana M. Murphy sold 11,246 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.28, for a total transaction of $2,488,514.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 18,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,171,791.84. This represents a 37.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $218.17, for a total transaction of $261,804.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,299,166.74. This represents a 7.35% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.74% of the company’s stock.

About Landstar System

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.