Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) Raises Dividend to $2.00 Per Share

Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) announced a special dividend on Monday, December 9th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, January 7th will be paid a dividend of 2.00 per share by the transportation company on Tuesday, January 21st. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 7th. This is an increase from Landstar System’s previous special dividend of $1.50.

Landstar System has raised its dividend by an average of 14.5% annually over the last three years. Landstar System has a dividend payout ratio of 18.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Landstar System to earn $7.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.5%.

Landstar System Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ LSTR opened at $172.93 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $181.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.30. Landstar System has a 12 month low of $165.39 and a 12 month high of $200.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 2.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.66 and a beta of 0.83.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on LSTR shares. 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 research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Landstar System from $176.00 to $174.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Landstar System from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Landstar System from $184.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $174.25.

Insider Transactions at Landstar System

In related news, CFO James P. Todd sold 1,000 shares of Landstar System stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.