Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $14.60 Million Position in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 100,164 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 45,734 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Ryder System worth $14,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of R. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ryder System by 120.7% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,437 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $413,000 after acquiring an additional 1,880 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 73.0% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ryder System in the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Ryder System by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 47,957 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,763,000 after buying an additional 6,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Ryder System in the 1st quarter valued at about $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on R shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Ryder System from $148.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ryder System from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.57.

Ryder System Stock Down 2.0 %

Ryder System stock opened at $162.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.28. Ryder System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.44 and a fifty-two week high of $170.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.12.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $3.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.29 billion. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ryder System, Inc. will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryder System Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.44, for a total value of $629,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,504 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,228,149.76. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ryder System

Ryder System, Inc operates as a logistics and transportation company worldwide. It operates through three segments: Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Supply Chain Solutions (SCS), and Dedicated Transportation Solutions (DTS). The FMS segment offers full-service leasing and leasing with flexible maintenance options; commercial vehicle rental services; and contract or transactional maintenance services of trucks, tractors, and trailers; access to diesel fuel; and fuel planning and tax reporting, cards, and monitoring services, and centralized billing, as well as sells used vehicles through its retail sales centers and www.ryder.com/used-trucks website, as well as digital and technology support services.