Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $3.71 Million Investment in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 37,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,709,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 63.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 12,126 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,529,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the second quarter valued at approximately $277,000. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Parcel Service in the second quarter worth $848,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.7% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 342,866 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,609,000 after buying an additional 9,124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 154.5% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 104,819 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,580,000 after buying an additional 63,629 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UPS shares. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group lowered their price target on United Parcel Service from $125.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore cut their price objective on United Parcel Service from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna increased their target price on United Parcel Service from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered United Parcel Service from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.50.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

Shares of United Parcel Service stock opened at $108.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $91.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $104.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.88. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.00 and a fifty-two week high of $122.41.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.05. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $21.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.1 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.1%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is 106.15%.

United Parcel Service Profile

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.