United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Stock Price Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) traded down 3.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $112.13 and last traded at $111.45. 1,449,649 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 4,496,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $115.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of United Parcel Service from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $160.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $155.00 to $145.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.09.

United Parcel Service Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.96%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.04%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 829,280 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $113,064,000 after acquiring an additional 33,989 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at about $461,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 8.6% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 87,531 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,934,000 after buying an additional 6,941 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 131,623 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,304,000 after acquiring an additional 28,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.26% of the company’s stock.

About United Parcel Service

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.