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Landstar (LSTR) Cheers Investors With Buyback, Special Dividend

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In a shareholder-friendly move, Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR - Free Report) announced an increase in its share repurchase authorization program. LSTR’s board of directors has raised the number of shares of its common stock, which the company is authorized to purchase, to 3,000,000. The latest uptick allows the company to purchase 319,332 new shares, apart from the existing authorization to purchase 2,680,668 shares.

Additionally, LSTR’s board has declared a special one-time cash dividend of $2.00 per share. This special dividend will be paid on Jan 19, 2024, to all its shareholders of record as of the close of the business on Jan 3, 2024.

Landstar president and chief executive officer, Jim Gattoni, stated, “Landstar’s strong balance sheet and free cash flow generation enable us to continue to return value to our stockholders.”

Landstar has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. During the first 11 months of 2023, LSTR purchased 319,332 shares for almost $53.9 million. The trucking company has also rewarded its shareholders through $117.1 million of dividend payments so far this year.

Dividend-paying stocks provide a solid income stream and have fewer chances of experiencing wild price swings. Dividend stocks, like LSTR, are safe bets for creating wealth, as the payouts generally act as a hedge against economic uncertainty like the current scenario. 

LSTR management’s decision to increase its share buyback program and special dividend payout reflects the company’s commitment to boosting shareholder value apart from underlining confidence in its business. We believe such shareholder-friendly initiatives should boost investor confidence and positively impact this Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) stock bottom line.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation, operating as Wabtec Corporation (WAB - Free Report) and SkyWest, Inc. (SKYW - Free Report) . Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Wabtec has an expected earnings growth rate of 22.02% for the current year. WAB delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 7.11%, on average.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WAB’s current-year earnings has improved 5.1% over the past 90 days. Shares of WAB have gained 20.4% year to date.

SkyWest's fleet-modernization efforts are commendable. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SKYW’s current-year earnings has improved 31.5% over the past 90 days. Shares of SKYW have surged 191.9% year to date.

SKYW delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 32.57%, on average.


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