United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Trading 0.5% Higher

Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) shot up 0.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $136.49 and last traded at $135.55. 1,539,867 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 4,015,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $134.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on UPS shares. HSBC upgraded United Parcel Service from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $157.00 to $145.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on United Parcel Service from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on United Parcel Service from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.55.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $141.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.03.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $21.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $21.84 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.42% and a net margin of 6.60%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.20 EPS. On average, analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.22 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.63 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.81%. United Parcel Service’s payout ratio is 94.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Parcel Service

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chesapeake Wealth Management grew its position in United Parcel Service by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 7,886 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in United Parcel Service by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 387,381 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,908,000 after acquiring an additional 44,721 shares during the last quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in United Parcel Service by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,184 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,148,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in United Parcel Service by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,676,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $578,053,000 after acquiring an additional 200,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. bought a new position in United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,410,000. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of express letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.