Ellsworth Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC increased its stake in FedEx Co. (NYSE:FDX) by 31.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,362 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Ellsworth Advisors LLC’s holdings in FedEx were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in FedEx by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,868,165 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $5,756,602,000 after buying an additional 1,056,061 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in FedEx by 32.5% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,831,084 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $2,558,718,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,622 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in FedEx by 43.5% during the first quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 2,258,579 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock valued at $654,401,000 after purchasing an additional 684,679 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FedEx by 34.6% during the second 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of FedEx by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,182,504 shares of the shipping service provider’s stock worth $654,312,000 after buying an additional 121,240 shares during the last quarter. 84.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FedEx Stock Performance

Shares of FDX opened at $274.45 on Friday. FedEx Co. has a 12-month low of $224.69 and a 12-month high of $313.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $280.10 and its 200-day moving average is $275.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

FedEx (NYSE:FDX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 19th. The shipping service provider reported $3.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($1.22). FedEx had a return on equity of 15.61% and a net margin of 4.62%. The business had revenue of $21.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that FedEx Co. will post 19.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FedEx Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were given a $1.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $5.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. FedEx’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $359.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Susquehanna cut their price target on FedEx from $345.00 to $330.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Daiwa America downgraded FedEx from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of FedEx from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of FedEx from $333.00 to $311.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FedEx has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.17.

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.