Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R - Free Report) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 100,164 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 45,734 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of Ryder System worth $14,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of R. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ryder System by 6.1% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,360 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,063 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Ryder System by 83.0% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,260 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ryder System in the third quarter worth $1,367,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 40.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,719 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryder System by 78.4% during the third quarter. Custom Index Systems LLC now owns 4,372 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 1,922 shares in the last quarter. 87.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

R has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Ryder System from $148.00 to $144.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ryder System from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ryder System from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $140.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ryder System

In other news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 4,000 shares of the company'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 owns 20,504 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,228,149.76. This represents a 16.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 5.10% of the company's stock.

Ryder System Stock Performance

Shares of Ryder System stock traded down $3.26 on Friday, hitting $162.41. 261,171 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 264,408. Ryder System, Inc. has a 1 year low of $104.44 and a 1 year high of $170.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $147.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a PE ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.28.

Ryder System (NYSE:R - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $3.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.29 billion. Ryder System had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 3.83%. Ryder System's quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ryder System, Inc. will post 12.01 EPS for the current year.

Ryder System Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Ryder System's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.31%.

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.