FedEx’s (FDX) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer restated their market perform rating on shares of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports.

FDX has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a buy rating and set a $327.00 target price (up previously from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of FedEx from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and raised their target price for the company from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $316.00 to $333.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FedEx presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $313.09.

FedEx Trading Up 15.5 %

FDX stock opened at $296.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.16. FedEx has a 12 month low of $224.69 and a 12 month high of $296.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $256.13 and its 200 day moving average is $255.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.34 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.04 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 16.86%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 20.26 EPS for the current year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th will be issued a dividend of $1.38 per share. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. FedEx’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

FedEx announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chairman now owns 14,505,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,978,953,009.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Frederick W. Smith sold 113,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.30, for a total transaction of $31,105,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now 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, EVP Tracy B. Brightman sold 2,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 117,275 shares of company stock valued at $32,177,298. 8.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in FedEx by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in FedEx by 32.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $2,558,718,000 after buying an additional 2,163,622 shares during the last quarter. Sentry LLC acquired a new position in FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,811,748,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in FedEx by 1.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,238,185 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $857,860,000 after buying an additional 35,085 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 38.1% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 2,893,781 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $732,040,000 after buying an additional 798,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.47% of the company’s stock.

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.