FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Given New $347.00 Price Target at Bank of America

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) had its price objective hoisted by Bank of America from $340.00 to $347.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the shipping service provider’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on FDX. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded FedEx to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on FedEx from $293.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on FedEx from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday. BNP Paribas restated an underperform rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of FedEx in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on FedEx from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $313.09.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX opened at $296.19 on Wednesday. FedEx has a 52-week low of $224.69 and a 52-week high of $296.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $256.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.72.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.86% and a net margin of 4.94%. FedEx’s revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FedEx will post 20.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 24th. This is an increase from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 21st that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows 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 board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Richard W. Smith sold 1,325 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,542,999.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total value of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 117,275 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,298. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. Sentry LLC bought a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at $1,811,748,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth $700,291,000. Capital International Investors raised its position in FedEx by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in FedEx by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $732,040,000 after purchasing an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FedEx Company Profile

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.