FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Short Interest Up 5.6% in October

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,160,000 shares, an increase of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 3,940,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.

FedEx Price Performance

Shares of FedEx stock traded down $2.19 on Tuesday, hitting $293.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,474,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,802,884. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $71.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $275.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.94. FedEx has a 52-week low of $234.45 and a 52-week high of $313.84.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by ($1.22). FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The company had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.55 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that FedEx will post 19.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. FedEx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FDX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of FedEx from $327.00 to $321.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of FedEx from $334.00 to $328.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bernstein Bank upped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $305.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut FedEx from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Daiwa America cut FedEx from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $316.04.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FedEx during the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of FedEx by 50.0% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 789 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $229,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of FedEx in the 1st quarter valued at $476,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in FedEx by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 33,838 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $9,804,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in FedEx in the 1st quarter valued at $220,000. 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.