Stifel Nicolaus Reiterates Buy Rating for FedEx (NYSE:FDX)

FedEx (NYSE:FDX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $327.00 price target on the shipping service provider’s stock, up from their previous price target of $303.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James dropped their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.00.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE FDX opened at $295.47 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $256.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.00. FedEx has a twelve month low of $224.69 and a twelve month high of $296.86. The company has a market capitalization of $72.71 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 4.94%. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that FedEx will post 20.26 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 21st that permits the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total transaction of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 117,275 shares of company stock worth $32,177,298. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in FedEx by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. raised its stake in FedEx by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors 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.