Short Interest in Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) Drops By 20.5%

Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 592,800 shares, a decline of 20.5% from the December 15th total of 745,300 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 252,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Landstar System Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ LSTR traded up $5.55 on Wednesday, reaching $177.02. The company had a trading volume of 62,729 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,753. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Landstar System has a fifty-two week low of $164.04 and a fifty-two week high of $200.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $180.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.62.

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

Landstar System Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a special dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 21st. Investors of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of $2.00 per share. This is an increase from Landstar System’s previous special dividend of $1.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio is 24.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LSTR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Landstar System from $176.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $158.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Landstar System from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $171.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.32, for a total value of $184,320.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,083 shares in the company, valued at $2,595,778.56. The trade was a 6.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Landstar System

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Landstar System by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,865 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its holdings in Landstar System by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 2,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Landstar System by 28.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 58,177 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,000,000 after acquiring an additional 12,756 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Landstar System by 9.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 10,053 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,899,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Landstar System during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,036,000. 97.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.