FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Earns “Underperform” Rating from BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas restated their underperform rating on shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the shipping service provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on FDX. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on FedEx from $195.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank Of America (Bofa) upped their price objective on FedEx from $330.00 to $334.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Stephens reduced their price objective on FedEx from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on FedEx from $322.00 to $305.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $301.07.

FedEx Stock Up 0.6 %

FDX opened at $289.74 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $250.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $252.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The company has a market cap of $71.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.20. FedEx has a one year low of $213.80 and a one year high of $291.27.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The shipping service provider reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.49 by $0.37. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 5.02%. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.41 earnings per share. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was down 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to buy up to 7.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th will be given a $1.26 dividend. This represents a $5.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 8th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,277.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 6,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.02, for a total value of $1,769,882.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,865 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,265,277.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.19, for a total value of $102,373.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 11,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,223,600.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,393 shares of company stock valued at $5,581,475 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 8.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,812,104 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,758,898,000 after purchasing an additional 82,994 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 2.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,155,472 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $4,004,941,000 after purchasing an additional 313,917 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in FedEx by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,667,462 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,686,738,000 after purchasing an additional 880,894 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 29.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,063,938 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,076,619,000 after purchasing an additional 916,555 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.