FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Upgraded at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $275.00 price objective on the shipping service provider’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $300.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lowered their price target on FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of FedEx from $323.00 to $280.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler downgraded shares of FedEx to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FedEx currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $300.60.

FedEx Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX opened at $243.78 on Monday. FedEx has a 12-month low of $217.22 and a 12-month high of $313.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $257.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $58.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.56 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.96 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. FedEx’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.86 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.63%.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,510.80. The trade was a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP John W. Dietrich purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $273.98 per share, for a total transaction of $273,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. This trade represents a 12.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FedEx

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. bLong Financial LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $391,000. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of FedEx during the third quarter valued at $3,405,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at about $461,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in FedEx by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, GFS Advisors LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,855,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.