Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Ryder System, Inc. (NYSE:R) saw a large decrease in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 569,100 shares, a decrease of 26.5% from the December 15th total of 774,300 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 280,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Ryder System Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:R traded up $4.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $163.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 360,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 252,725. Ryder System has a fifty-two week low of $106.62 and a fifty-two week high of $171.78. The company has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.17, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $146.78.

Ryder System (NYSE:R) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The transportation company reported $3.44 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $3.29 billion. Ryder System had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 16.78%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.58 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ryder System will post 12.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ryder System

In related news, insider Thomas M. Havens sold 4,000 shares of Ryder System stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.44, for a total value of $629,760.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 20,504 shares in the company, valued at $3,228,149.76. This trade represents a 16.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 5.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in R. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ryder System by 10.2% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Ryder System by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,722,222 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $213,345,000 after acquiring an additional 31,550 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in Ryder System by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 21,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,695,000 after acquiring an additional 2,881 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in Ryder System by 17.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 6,454 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $799,000 after purchasing an additional 941 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in Ryder System in the second quarter valued at approximately $701,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded Ryder System from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Ryder System from $160.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.