FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Raised to “Buy” at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $222.00 target price on the shipping service provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $171.00.

Several other research firms have also commented on FDX. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $185.00 to $225.00 in a report on Friday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Monday, March 13th. Credit Suisse Group set a $257.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Barclays set a $240.00 price target on shares of FedEx in a report on Monday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of FedEx from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $204.00 to $233.00 in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $230.75.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX stock opened at $220.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.30. FedEx has a 52 week low of $141.92 and a 52 week high of $248.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $201.14 and its 200 day moving average is $181.41. The firm has a market cap of $55.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.31.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The shipping service provider reported $3.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.74. FedEx had a net margin of 3.54% and a return on equity of 19.17%. The company had revenue of $22.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.59 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that FedEx will post 13.53 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 13th will be paid a $1.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 10th. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.14%.

Insider Transactions at FedEx

In related news, Director Amy B. Lane purchased 280 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $175.83 per share, for a total transaction of $49,232.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,844.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 8.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in FedEx by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,835,505 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,796,508,000 after purchasing an additional 220,183 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in FedEx by 0.6% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 17,426,647 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $3,950,795,000 after purchasing an additional 98,022 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in FedEx by 2.9% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,818,843 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,497,094,000 after purchasing an additional 469,345 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in FedEx by 3.3% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 13,878,717 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,060,573,000 after purchasing an additional 445,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in FedEx by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,234,930 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,448,000 after purchasing an additional 35,946 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Company Profile

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FedEx Corp. provides a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services under the FedEx brand. It operates through the following segments: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services, and Corporate, Other & Eliminations. The FedEx Express segment consists of domestic and international shipping services for delivery of packages and freight.