FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $324.88.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FDX. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of FedEx from $311.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Hsbc Global Res downgraded FedEx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded FedEx from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $337.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $348.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of FedEx from $350.00 to $345.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

FedEx Price Performance

FDX traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $275.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,092,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,820,057. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18. FedEx has a twelve month low of $234.45 and a twelve month high of $313.84. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $282.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The shipping service provider reported $4.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.88 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.14 billion. FedEx had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 15.61%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.99 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FedEx will post 19.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a $1.38 dividend. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. FedEx's payout ratio is 35.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. &PARTNERS boosted its position in FedEx by 29.6% in the 2nd quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 3,414 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $1,024,000 after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in FedEx by 10.8% in the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 778 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in FedEx by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 945 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in FedEx by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 455 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Fullcircle Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the 2nd quarter valued at about $268,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.