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

Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $325.61.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FDX. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of FedEx from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens cut their price target on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on FedEx from $301.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX stock opened at $275.72 on Wednesday. FedEx has a 12 month low of $234.45 and a 12 month high of $313.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $283.19 and its 200 day moving average is $283.74.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. FedEx had a return on equity of 15.59% and a net margin of 4.45%. The firm had revenue of $22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.14 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.18%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 2,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.93, for a total transaction of $713,371.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,984,589.98. This represents a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FedEx

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the third quarter worth $3,405,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 45,909 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $12,564,000 after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of FedEx by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,329 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Persium Advisors LLC bought a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter worth about $530,000. Finally, Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx in the second quarter worth about $9,226,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.