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In a shareholder-friendly move, Landstar System, Inc. LSTR announced a special one-time cash dividend of $2.00 per share. This special dividend will be paid on Jan. 21, 2025, to all its shareholders of record as of business on Jan. 7.
Landstar president and chief executive officer, Frank Lonegro stated, “Landstar’s strong balance sheet and free cash flow generation enable us to continue to return value to our stockholders.”
Landstar purchased 452,019 shares for approximately $82.1 million during the first 11 months of 2024. Landstar has paid $120.5 million to its shareholders in the form of cash dividends.
As of Sept. 28, 2024, LSTR had $531 million in cash and short-term investments. The company aims to continue to use its available free cash flow to opportunistically purchase its stock under its stock purchase program.
Landstar has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. As a reflection of its shareholder-friendly stance, in 2023, LSTR paid dividends of $117.1 million and repurchased shares worth $53.9 million.
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 announce a 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 the stock’s bottom line.
LSTR’s Zacks Rank & Price Performance
LSTR presently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Shares of LSTR have gained 2.9% over the past six months, but underperformed its industry’s growth of 17.5%.
Six-Month Price Comparison
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the Zacks Transportation sector are Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (EXPD) and Wabtec Corporation WAB. Each stock presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
EXPD has an impressive earnings surprise history. The company's earnings outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate in two of the trailing four quarters (missed the mark in the remaining quarter and met in the other quarter), delivering an average surprise of 4.75%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for EXPD’s 2024 earnings has been revised 6.4% upward over the past 90 days. EXPD has an expected earnings growth rate of 8.38% for 2024. Shares of EXPD have lost 4.5% so far this year.