FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.38

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 14th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.38 per share by the shipping service provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%.

FedEx has raised its dividend payment by an average of 23.0% annually over the last three years. FedEx has a payout ratio of 22.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect FedEx to earn $21.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 25.5%.

FedEx Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:FDX opened at $267.83 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $272.65 and a 200-day moving average of $279.45. The company has a market capitalization of $64.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.23. FedEx has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John W. Dietrich acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $273.98 per share, with a total value of $273,980.00. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 9,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,484,176.66. The trade was a 12.40 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FDX shares. Stephens lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FedEx currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $321.87.

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.