Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) Trading Up 4.8% Following Earnings Beat

Shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) were up 4.8% during trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $180.10 and last traded at $179.39. Approximately 341,235 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average daily volume of 272,162 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.10.

The transportation company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.04. Landstar System had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 26.73%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LSTR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Landstar System from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Landstar System from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Landstar System from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael K. Kneller sold 12,219 shares of Landstar System stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.30, for a total transaction of $2,325,275.70. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 61,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,632,468.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Landstar System

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,448 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,672,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 277,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,784,000 after purchasing an additional 11,370 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 335,747 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $59,407,000 after purchasing an additional 19,920 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of Landstar System by 63.3% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 205,239 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $36,315,000 after purchasing an additional 79,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Landstar System in the 3rd quarter worth about $630,000. Institutional investors own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

Landstar System Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $184.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.48. The company has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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.