XPO (NYSE:XPO) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

XPO (NYSE:XPO) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

XPO has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on XPO from $233.00 to $225.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on XPO from $237.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Citizens Jmp assumed coverage on XPO in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on XPO from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Evercore raised XPO from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, XPO has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $225.82.

XPO Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE XPO opened at $176.21 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $192.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $202.14. XPO has a 1 year low of $121.48 and a 1 year high of $232.05. The company has a market capitalization of $20.63 billion, a PE ratio of 51.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The transportation company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.22. XPO had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 29.64%. The business had revenue of $2.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that XPO will post 5.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at XPO

In related news, CFO Kyle Wismans sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.52, for a total transaction of $133,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 48,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,696,780.32. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO David Bates sold 2,615 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $179.41, for a total transaction of $469,157.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 64,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,614,106.35. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,365 shares of company stock valued at $1,612,085. Corporate insiders own 0.87% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On XPO

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in XPO in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,985,276,000. MFN Partners Management LP purchased a new position in XPO during the second quarter worth about $2,026,148,865. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in XPO by 115.9% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,420,899 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $470,986,000 after buying an additional 1,299,480 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of XPO during the second quarter valued at about $236,104,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of XPO during the second quarter valued at about $151,798,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.73% of the company’s stock.

About XPO

XPO, Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides freight services to businesses in North America and Europe. Its primary business is less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation, which consolidates shipments from multiple customers onto individual trailers. The company serves manufacturers, retailers, distributors and other commercial customers.

XPO’s services include regional, interregional and cross-border LTL transportation, freight pickup and delivery, shipment tracking, and related supply chain solutions.