FedEx Co. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.26 (NYSE:FDX)

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of 1.26 per share by the shipping service provider on Monday, October 2nd. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th.

FedEx has increased its dividend by an average of 17.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. FedEx has a payout ratio of 23.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect FedEx to earn $21.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.0%.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $257.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $64.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $235.67. FedEx has a 1 year low of $141.92 and a 1 year high of $270.95.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.85 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $21.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.55 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.41% and a return on equity of 15.32%. FedEx’s revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx will post 17.3 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of FedEx in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of FedEx from $295.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $180.00 to $186.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $272.00 to $312.00 in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of FedEx from $228.00 to $251.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 21st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FedEx news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 19,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total transaction of $4,740,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 58,875 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,483,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Michael C. Lenz sold 5,745 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.88, for a total value of $1,504,500.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,478 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,886,538.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 19,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.00, for a total transaction of $4,740,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 58,875 shares in the company, valued at $14,483,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,816 shares of company stock valued at $8,822,147 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in FedEx by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,412,956 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $591,124,000 after purchasing an additional 559,607 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $388,787,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,284,390 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $297,196,000 after purchasing an additional 54,901 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,275,892 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $295,227,000 after purchasing an additional 80,535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 575,943 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $131,597,000 after purchasing an additional 16,674 shares during the last quarter. 73.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.