Richwood Investment Advisors LLC Has $786,000 Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

Richwood Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,232 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 124 shares during the period. Richwood Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $113,064,000 after purchasing an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,934,000 after acquiring an additional 6,941 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,305,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 131,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 28,108 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

United Parcel Service stock opened at $115.25 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $120.13 and a 200-day moving average of $127.01. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.40 and a 1 year high of $157.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $98.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.69%. This is an increase from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on UPS. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $141.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.09.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.