FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $324.88.

FDX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on FedEx from $333.00 to $332.00 in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered FedEx from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th.

FedEx Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of FDX stock opened at $271.84 on Friday. FedEx has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $65.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.77, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $282.85 and its 200-day moving average is $282.64.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The company had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that FedEx will post 19.59 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 35.18%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,689,791 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,281,335,000 after buying an additional 67,502 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in FedEx by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after purchasing an additional 578,350 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in FedEx by 5.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,182,504 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $654,312,000 after purchasing an additional 121,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 0.7% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 1,699,179 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $465,031,000 after purchasing an additional 11,100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

About FedEx

FedEx Corporation provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services in the United States and internationally. It operates through FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Services segments. The FedEx Express segment offers express transportation, small-package ground delivery, and freight transportation services; and time-critical transportation services.