Aristides Capital LLC Buys 500 Shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

Aristides Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) by 31.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Aristides Capital LLC’s holdings in Ryder System were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in Ryder System by 4.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Ryder System by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 28,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 376.5% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 9,764 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 7,715 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Ryder System by 4.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 2,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ryder System by 13.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,780 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,196,000 after buying an additional 3,344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

Ryder System Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NYSE R opened at $133.81 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.14. Ryder System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.88 and a 12 month high of $171.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $153.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $155.36.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The transportation company reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.06. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.87% and a return on equity of 17.23%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ryder System, Inc. will post 13.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryder System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on R. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ryder System from $176.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ryder System from $160.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.00.

Ryder System Profile

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.