Hancock Whitney Corp Boosts Stock Position in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Hancock Whitney Corp increased its stake in shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 0.7% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 48,130 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in FedEx were worth $14,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of FedEx by 32.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after acquiring an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the fourth quarter worth about $307,007,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in FedEx by 43.5% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $654,401,000 after acquiring an additional 684,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FDX. Susquehanna lowered their price target on FedEx from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Argus upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Bernstein Bank upped their price target on FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $312.84.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 59,884 shares in the company, valued at $17,634,640.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of FedEx stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total value of $2,611,688.94. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 12,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,797,974.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Robert B. Carter sold 16,010 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.48, for a total transaction of $4,714,624.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,634,640.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,944 shares of company stock valued at $9,882,355 in the last ninety days. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX stock opened at $254.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $292.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $62.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.17. FedEx Co. has a fifty-two week low of $224.69 and a fifty-two week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 20.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%.

FedEx 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.