Landstar System (LSTR) & Its Competitors Critical Review

Landstar System (NASDAQ:LSTR) is one of 101 publicly-traded companies in the “Ground Transportation” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Landstar System to related companies based on the strength of its valuation, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, dividends and profitability.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Landstar System and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Landstar System	$4.74 billion	$115.01 million	31.36
Landstar System Competitors	$8.60 billion	$896.49 million	31.13

Landstar System’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Landstar System. Landstar System is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Risk & Volatility

Landstar System has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Landstar System’s peers have a beta of 1.14, suggesting that their average stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Landstar System pays an annual dividend of $1.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.2%. Landstar System pays out 37.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies pay a dividend yield of 1.5% and pay out 26.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Landstar System has raised its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Landstar System lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

98.0% of Landstar System shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.1% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Landstar System shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 14.8% of shares of all “Ground Transportation” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Landstar System and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Landstar System	2	12	4	0	2.11
Landstar System Competitors	1379	6535	8698	267	2.47

Landstar System presently has a consensus price target of $181.33, indicating a potential upside of 22.51%. As a group, “Ground Transportation” companies have a potential upside of 16.42%. Given Landstar System’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Landstar System is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Landstar System and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Landstar System	3.03%	23.89%	11.48%
Landstar System Competitors	6.87%	12.61%	4.01%

Summary

Landstar System peers beat Landstar System on 11 of the 15 factors compared.

About Landstar System

Landstar System, Inc. is a transportation and logistics company that arranges freight movement through an asset-light network of independent agents, business capacity owners, and third-party transportation providers. Rather than relying primarily on a company-owned fleet, Landstar connects customers with available transportation capacity and coordinates shipments through its network. The company offers truckload services, including van, flatbed, and specialized transportation, as well as less-than-truckload, expedited, and intermodal shipping.