Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for XPO (NYSE:XPO) Stock Price

XPO (NYSE:XPO) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Barclays from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Barclays‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 40.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on XPO from $148.00 to $176.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on XPO from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Vertical Research raised shares of XPO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of XPO from $170.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of XPO from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $152.37.

XPO Trading Down 13.7 %

Shares of NYSE XPO opened at $96.10 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. XPO has a fifty-two week low of $95.59 and a fifty-two week high of $161.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 2.13.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.21. XPO had a return on equity of 30.36% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, analysts predict that XPO will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

XPO declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, March 27th that authorizes the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the transportation company to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at XPO

In other news, COO David J. Bates acquired 1,880 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $106.16 per share, with a total value of $199,580.80. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now directly owns 21,106 shares in the company, valued at $2,240,612.96. This represents a 9.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On XPO

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in XPO by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,641,962 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,789,171,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,686 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of XPO during the fourth quarter worth approximately $231,667,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of XPO by 26.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,753,883 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,016,923,000 after buying an additional 1,605,001 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of XPO in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,808,000. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in XPO during the fourth quarter worth approximately $163,938,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.73% of the company’s stock.

About XPO

XPO, Inc provides freight transportation services in the United States, rest of North America, France, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American LTL and European Transportation. The North American LTL segment provides customers with less-than-truckload (LTL) services, such as geographic density and day-definite domestic services.