Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Decreases By 8.5%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX traded down $4.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $269.56. 1,685,263 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,886,419. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. FedEx has a 52 week low of $224.69 and a 52 week high of $313.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.91. The firm has a market cap of $66.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.17.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). The firm had revenue of $21.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that FedEx will post 19.66 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is 32.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FDX shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of FedEx from $334.00 to $328.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of FedEx from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $215.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on FedEx from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James lowered their target price on FedEx from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, HSBC lowered FedEx from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total value of $34,711.84. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares in the company, valued at $278,293.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total transaction of $2,611,688.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares in the company, valued at $3,797,974.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total value of $34,711.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,293.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,030 shares of company stock valued at $4,013,050. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FedEx by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in FedEx by 32.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its position in FedEx by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after purchasing an additional 798,084 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in FedEx by 43.5% during the 1st quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $654,401,000 after purchasing an additional 684,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after purchasing an additional 578,350 shares during the period. 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.