Ryder Stock Rises More Than 3% Following Dividend Hike

Shares of Ryder System, Inc. (R) performed well on the bourse on July 10, 2025, closing the trading session at $176.01 per share, up 3.05% from the previous day's closing. The upside was owing to the dividendhike announcement by Ryder’s board of directors.

In a shareholder-friendly move, R’s board of directors has approved a dividend hike of 12%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to 91 cents per share ($3.64 annualized) from 81 cents ($3.24 annualized). The raised dividend will be paid out on Sept. 19, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on Aug. 18, 2025. The move reflects R’s intention to utilize free cash to enhance its shareholders’ returns.

R's latest dividend hike is the first increase since July 2024, implying the company’s confidence in its financial footing amid the current ongoing tariff-induced challenging macroeconomic backdrop. This marks Ryder’s 196th consecutive quarterly cash dividend. Notably, Ryder has been making uninterrupted dividend payments for more than 49 years.

Ryder System, Inc. Dividend Yield (TTM)

Ryder System, Inc. dividend-yield-ttm | Ryder System, Inc. Quote

Ryder’s chairman and chief executive officer stated, "Ryder continues to produce higher profitability and improved returns over the cycle, which allows the company to deliver annual dividends in line with our higher earnings profile.”

Ryder has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. In 2022, Ryder paid dividends of $123 million and repurchased shares worth $557 million. In 2023, Ryder paid dividends of $128 million and repurchased shares worth $337 million. In 2024, Ryder returned $456 million in cash to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. During first-quarter 2025, Ryder returned $202 million to shareholders through buybacks and dividends.

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

R’s management’s decision to increase its quarterly 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 thisZacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s bottom line. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Dividend Hike Announced by Other Transportation Companies in 2025

Ryder is not the only player from the Zacks Transportation sector that has rewarded its shareholders with dividend payouts or share buyback programs in 2025.

To name a few, on June 19, 2025, Delta Air Lines, Inc.’s (DAL) board of directors approved a dividend hike of 25%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to 18.75 per share (75 cents annualized) from 15 cents (60 cents annualized). The raised dividend will be paid on Aug. 21, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 31, 2025. This marked DAL’s second dividend hike since reinstating payouts in June 2023 after a COVID-era suspension.

On June 9, 2025, FedEx Corporation’s (FDX) board of directorsapproved a dividend hike of 5.1%, thereby raising its quarterly cash dividend to $1.45 per share ($5.80 annualized) from $1.38 ($5.52 annualized). The increased dividend will be paid on July 8, 2025, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on June 23, 2025.

Notably, FedEx has been consistently making efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks, which are encouraging. During the first nine months of fiscal 2025, FedEx paid dividends worth $1.01 billion and repurchased shares worth $2.52 billion.

Landstar System, Inc. (LSTR), concurrent with its first-quarter 2025 earnings release on May 13, 2025, announced a dividend hike of 11%, thereby raising the quarterly cash dividend to 40 cents per share from 36 cents per share. The raised dividend will be paid on June 24, 2025, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 5, 2025.

During the first quarter of 2025, Landstar purchased almost 386,000 shares for $60.9 million and paid $83.3 million to shareholders in the form of cash dividends. LSTR is currently authorized to purchase up to an additional 2,161,663 shares under its longstanding share purchase program.  

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