Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for FedEx (NYSE:FDX) Stock

FedEx (NYSE:FDX - Free Report) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $321.00 to $368.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the shipping service provider's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays upped their price target on FedEx from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. HSBC lowered shares of FedEx from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 20th. TD Cowen increased their target price on FedEx from $328.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded FedEx from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $288.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.24.

FedEx Stock Performance

FDX traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $275.73. 8,092,276 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,820,057. FedEx has a one year low of $234.45 and a one year high of $313.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $282.71 and its 200 day moving average is $281.85. 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 firm has a market cap of $67.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.18.

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

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $1.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. FedEx's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FedEx

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FedEx by 473.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 784,691 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $2,147,540,000 after acquiring an additional 647,926 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in FedEx by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,248,137 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $674,336,000 after purchasing an additional 578,350 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in FedEx by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,975,531 shares of the shipping service provider's stock worth $1,042,050,000 after purchasing an additional 314,380 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in FedEx by 2,163.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 192,441 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $52,667,000 after purchasing an additional 183,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FedEx by 77.8% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 368,107 shares of the shipping service provider's stock valued at $101,022,000 after purchasing an additional 161,022 shares during the period. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by 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.