FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on FDX. HSBC downgraded FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of FedEx from $333.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of FedEx in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James cut their price target on FedEx from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut FedEx from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.17.

FedEx Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of FDX stock opened at $272.87 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.17. FedEx has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $279.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.85.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by ($1.22). The company had revenue of $21.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The firm’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.55 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that FedEx will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.04%.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in FedEx by 32.5% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $654,401,000 after buying an additional 684,679 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 473.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after buying an additional 647,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in FedEx by 34.6% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after acquiring an additional 578,350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Company Profile

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.