United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) Trading 0.8% Higher Following Dividend Announcement

United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced a dividend. The stock traded as high as $147.78 and last traded at $147.09. 328,308 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 4,221,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.92.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.63 per share. This represents a $6.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $185.00 to $175.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $160.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $178.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Argus lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $165.23.

United Parcel Service Stock Down 0.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $124.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $149.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $150.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $21.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.84 billion. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 37.42% and a net margin of 6.60%. United Parcel Service’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of United Parcel Service

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UPS. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 15,631.2% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 14,502,261 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,280,190,000 after purchasing an additional 14,410,073 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in United Parcel Service by 87.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,152,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,854,180,000 after purchasing an additional 8,475,698 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the fourth quarter valued at $1,128,322,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 208.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,717,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $270,025,000 after buying an additional 1,160,005 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,607,055 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,510,517,000 after buying an additional 980,317 shares during the period. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.