Stock Buyback Program Announced by XPO (NYSE:XPO) Board

XPO (NYSE:XPO) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, March 27th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to purchase up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on XPO shares. Susquehanna upgraded XPO from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of XPO in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $156.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on XPO from $165.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Vertical Research raised XPO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of XPO from $150.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.37.

XPO Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of XPO stock traded up $1.95 on Thursday, reaching $112.82. 2,338,738 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,510,745. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The stock has a market cap of $13.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 2.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $126.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.53. XPO has a 1-year low of $97.03 and a 1-year high of $161.00.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The transportation company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.21. XPO had a return on equity of 30.36% and a net margin of 4.81%. On average, research analysts anticipate that XPO will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO David J. Bates acquired 1,880 shares of XPO stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $106.16 per share, for a total transaction of $199,580.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief operating officer now directly owns 21,106 shares in the company, valued at $2,240,612.96. This trade represents a 9.78 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

XPO Company Profile

XPO, Inc provides freight transportation services in the United States, rest of North America, France, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, North American LTL and European Transportation. The North American LTL segment provides customers with less-than-truckload (LTL) services, such as geographic density and day-definite domestic services.