Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Has $2.61 Million Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC cut its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 65.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 31,286 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 58,427 shares during the quarter. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $2,613,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in United Parcel Service by 95.9% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 332,983 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,611,000 after purchasing an additional 163,000 shares during the last quarter. BLVD Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,479,000. Strategic Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,885,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 94,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,525,000 after buying an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp grew its holdings in United Parcel Service by 16.8% during the second quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,130,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $114,118,000 after buying an additional 162,364 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

NYSE UPS opened at $106.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.30. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $82.00 and a 52-week high of $136.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.32.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.43. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 40.07%. The firm had revenue of $21.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.76 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on UPS. Truist Financial raised their price objective on United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BNP Paribas Exane downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $96.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of United Parcel Service in a report on Friday, September 19th. Bank of America raised shares of United Parcel Service from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $114.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $111.42.

About United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service (NYSE: UPS) is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.