HighTower Advisors LLC Buys 339 Shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ryder System were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 56.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 781,519 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,945,000 after buying an additional 281,052 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Ryder System by 1,915.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 103,935 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,875,000 after acquiring an additional 98,777 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ryder System by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,915,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $237,298,000 after acquiring an additional 62,815 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Ryder System by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 460,134 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,001,000 after purchasing an additional 54,605 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 847,581 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $104,997,000 after purchasing an additional 37,991 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ryder System

In other news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.44, for a total value of $629,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 20,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,228,149.76. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ryder System Stock Performance

Shares of R opened at $161.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 1.30. Ryder System, Inc. has a 12 month low of $106.62 and a 12 month high of $171.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $157.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.67.

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

Ryder System Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Ryder System’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on R shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ryder System from $160.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com lowered Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Ryder System from $148.00 to $144.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.43.

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.