Ryder System (NYSE:R) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Ryder System (NYSE:R) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on R. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Ryder System from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $159.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ryder System in a research note on Monday, June 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Ryder System in a research note on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $186.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Ryder System from $168.00 to $150.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ryder System presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.17.

Ryder System Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE R opened at $171.68 on Tuesday. Ryder System has a 1-year low of $117.17 and a 1-year high of $172.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average is $151.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97 and a beta of 0.97.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $2.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.40 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.17 billion. Ryder System had a return on equity of 17.64% and a net margin of 3.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.14 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ryder System will post 13.68 EPS for the current year.

Ryder System Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ryder System news, Director E Follin Smith sold 1,243 shares of Ryder System stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.38, for a total transaction of $179,464.34. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 39,802 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,746,612.76. The trade was a 3.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert E. Sanchez sold 18,496 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.73, for a total value of $2,880,382.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 40,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,357,521.52. This represents a 31.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryder System

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Ryder System during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ryder System in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Ryder System by 116.5% in the 1st quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC now owns 223 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryder System by 61.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 287 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Curat Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Ryder System during the first quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

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.