FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,030,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the November 15th total of 4,260,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

FedEx Stock Performance

NYSE:FDX opened at $283.34 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $281.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $281.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.28. FedEx has a fifty-two week low of $234.45 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84. The company has a market capitalization of $69.23 billion, a PE ratio of 17.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). The company had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The business’s revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on FDX. Bank of America lowered their price objective on FedEx from $347.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $335.00 to $330.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of FedEx from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bernstein Bank lifted their price target on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on FedEx from $317.00 to $288.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.68.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FedEx

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of FedEx by 473.8% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after purchasing an additional 647,926 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FedEx by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $674,336,000 after purchasing an additional 578,350 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in FedEx by 8.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $1,042,050,000 after acquiring an additional 314,380 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of FedEx by 2,163.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $52,667,000 after purchasing an additional 183,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of FedEx by 77.8% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 368,107 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $101,022,000 after buying an additional 161,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.