FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, an increase of 5.1% from the July 31st total of 2,740,000 shares. Currently, 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insider Activity at FedEx

In other news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total transaction of $747,115.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,745 shares in the company, valued at $4,345,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Paul S. Walsh sold 2,535 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.72, for a total value of $747,115.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 14,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,345,646.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sriram Krishnasamy sold 8,421 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.14, for a total value of $2,611,688.94. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 12,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,797,974.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,944 shares of company stock valued at $9,882,355 in the last three months. 8.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FedEx

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortis Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FedEx by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FedEx in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in FedEx during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Northwest Financial Advisors acquired a new position in shares of FedEx in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. 84.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FDX shares. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on FedEx from $351.00 to $318.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FedEx from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $327.00 price target (up from $303.00) on shares of FedEx in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on FedEx from $325.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of FedEx from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $296.00 to $359.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.96.

FedEx Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE FDX opened at $292.70 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $294.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.36. FedEx has a 1 year low of $224.69 and a 1 year high of $313.84. The firm has a market cap of $71.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.18.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 25th. The shipping service provider reported $5.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.34 by $0.07. FedEx had a return on equity of 16.70% and a net margin of 4.94%. The business had revenue of $22.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FedEx will post 20.87 earnings per share for the current year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be paid a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.04%.

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.