FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Lifted to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $359.00 target price on the shipping service provider’s stock, up from their prior target price of $296.00.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FDX. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded FedEx to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $314.00.

FedEx Price Performance

FedEx stock opened at $299.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $258.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $256.48. FedEx has a 12 month low of $224.69 and a 12 month high of $302.41. The company has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.16.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that FedEx will post 20.53 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total value of $368,668.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.24, for a total transaction of $368,668.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,542,999.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,810 shares of company stock worth $32,924,413 in the last ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FedEx

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FDX. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Management Professionals Inc. grew its stake in shares of FedEx by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 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.