FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $270.00 to $245.00. The stock had previously closed at $229.51, but opened at $218.58. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. FedEx shares last traded at $221.03, with a volume of 2,155,378 shares changing hands.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on FDX. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of FedEx in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $354.00 to $329.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $310.00 to $269.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of FedEx from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $283.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of FedEx from $275.00 to $260.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FedEx has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $285.75.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $807,352,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in FedEx during the 1st quarter worth approximately $314,650,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FedEx during the 4th quarter worth approximately $234,028,000. Dodge & Cox raised its position in FedEx by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,889,624 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $3,907,568,000 after buying an additional 734,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its position in FedEx by 85.9% during the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 1,585,033 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $386,399,000 after buying an additional 732,266 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Stock Down 3.2%

The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $53.21 billion, a PE ratio of 13.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $243.71.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 24th. The shipping service provider reported $6.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.98 by $0.09. FedEx had a net margin of 4.65% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $22.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx Corporation will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 23rd will be issued a dividend of $1.45 per share. This represents a $5.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. This is a positive change from FedEx’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 23rd. FedEx’s payout ratio is 36.39%.

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.