FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $292.54.

FDX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cfra Research raised FedEx to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on FedEx from $272.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on FedEx from $320.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on FedEx from $260.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on FedEx from $331.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FedEx news, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,161.85. This represents a 20.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 8.87% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FedEx by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,489,161 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,994,848,000 after buying an additional 289,655 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,907,568,000 after purchasing an additional 734,268 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,798,797 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,350,686,000 after acquiring an additional 109,006 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,298,646 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $1,209,338,000 after purchasing an additional 323,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,264,993 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $795,940,000 after purchasing an additional 43,989 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FDX stock opened at $223.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $216.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $53.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.35. FedEx has a 12 month low of $194.30 and a 12 month high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued 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). FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company had revenue of $22.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.86 EPS. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that FedEx will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a $1.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. This is a boost from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 36.39%.

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.