XPO (NYSE:XPO) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $108.92, but opened at $122.00. XPO shares last traded at $118.19, with a volume of 1,075,753 shares trading hands.

The transportation company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.13. XPO had a return on equity of 29.85% and a net margin of 2.44%. The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on XPO shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of XPO from $97.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on XPO from $100.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on XPO from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Susquehanna raised their target price on XPO from $100.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of XPO from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, XPO currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $111.65.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On XPO

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of XPO. Dorsey Wright & Associates purchased a new position in shares of XPO during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,252,000. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC boosted its stake in shares of XPO by 527.2% during the third quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 90,445 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $6,753,000 after acquiring an additional 76,025 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in XPO by 12,894.9% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,304,037 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $97,359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,294,002 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in XPO by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of XPO by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 123,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,844,000 after purchasing an additional 3,207 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.73% of the company’s stock.

XPO Trading Up 3.3 %

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $120.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.16. The firm has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 2.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

About XPO

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.