FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $267.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. FedEx traded as low as $194.34 and last traded at $195.76, with a volume of 65832 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $198.07.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on FDX. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stephens cut their target price on FedEx from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Cfra Research raised FedEx to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays cut their price target on FedEx from $365.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $300.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Susan C. Schwab sold 3,980 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.45, for a total value of $1,100,271.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,904 shares in the company, valued at $2,461,510.80. This trade represents a 30.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO John Alan Smith sold 6,155 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.55, for a total transaction of $1,499,050.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 23,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,686,161.85. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 8.87% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FedEx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. United Bank purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 3rd quarter worth about $615,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 1.9% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 26,612 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $7,280,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the third quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 5.6% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 70,632 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $19,331,000 after buying an additional 3,738 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 45.9% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 664 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $194,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

FedEx Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $47.34 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $247.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The shipping service provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.56 by ($0.05). FedEx had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 15.59%. The business had revenue of $22.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. FedEx’s payout ratio is 34.63%.

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.