Short Interest in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Drops By 8.5%

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,790,000 shares, a drop of 8.5% from the August 31st total of 3,050,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.4 days.

FedEx Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of FDX traded down $4.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $269.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,685,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,886,419. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.91. 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 12-month low of $224.69 and a 12-month high of $313.84. The firm has a market cap of $66.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.17.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $21.87 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 19.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on FedEx from $335.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Argus boosted their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bernstein Bank boosted their price objective on FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on FedEx from $327.00 to $321.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on FedEx from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total transaction of $34,711.84. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,293.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other FedEx news, CAO Guy M. Erwin II sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.24, for a total transaction of $34,711.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,293.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brie Carere sold 1,958 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.43, for a total value of $607,821.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,189,042.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,030 shares of company stock worth $4,013,050 over the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FDX. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $5,756,602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,056,061 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake 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 worth $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 798,084 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in FedEx by 43.5% in the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $654,401,000 after acquiring an additional 684,679 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in FedEx by 34.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $674,336,000 after acquiring an additional 578,350 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.