Chatham Capital Group Inc. Cuts Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Chatham Capital Group Inc. decreased its holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 27.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,841 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after selling 680 shares during the quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in FedEx were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. increased its position in FedEx by 143.2% during the 4th quarter. Financial Management Professionals Inc. now owns 107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James decreased their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on FedEx from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.00.

FedEx Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE FDX opened at $299.84 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $73.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two week high of $302.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $258.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $256.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The company had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.94 EPS. FedEx’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FedEx Co. will post 20.67 EPS 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 given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the shipping service provider to repurchase up to 7.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at FedEx

In other FedEx news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’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 value of $31,105,620.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.69, for a total transaction of $703,009.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,735,192.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 14,505,844 shares in the company, valued at $3,978,953,009.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 119,810 shares of company stock valued at $32,924,413 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 8.73% 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.