FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Rating Reiterated by Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $325.00 price objective on the shipping service provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised FedEx to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on FedEx from $310.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on FedEx from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FedEx has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $314.00.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX stock opened at $299.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16. FedEx has a 52-week low of $224.69 and a 52-week high of $302.41. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $258.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 20.53 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

FedEx declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,542,999.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 119,810 shares of company stock worth $32,924,413. Insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 20.9% in the fourth quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 29,246 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $7,398,000 after buying an additional 5,055 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,655 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $925,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $282,000. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 173.2% in the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 7,620 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,000 after buying an additional 4,831 shares in the last quarter. 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.