Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. Buys Shares of 13,950 Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR)

Laurus Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Landstar System, Inc. (NASDAQ:LSTR) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 13,950 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,701,000. Landstar System accounts for 1.3% of Laurus Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Landstar System during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 264,981 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,314,000 after buying an additional 16,789 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,610 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,055,000 after buying an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Landstar System during the fourth quarter worth about $243,000. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its holdings in shares of Landstar System by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 2,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.95% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Landstar System

In other news, VP Michael K. Kneller sold 12,219 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.30, for a total transaction of $2,325,275.70. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Landstar System Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LSTR opened at $187.31 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $190.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $183.59. The company has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.00. Landstar System, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $161.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.62.

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The transportation company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by ($0.01). Landstar System had a return on equity of 26.73% and a net margin of 4.99%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Landstar System, Inc. will post 6.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Landstar System Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.33 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Landstar System’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on LSTR. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Landstar System from $171.00 to $166.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Landstar System from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Landstar System from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Landstar System in a research report on Monday, December 11th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $186.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Landstar System from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $184.55.

Landstar System 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.