XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $133.68.

Several research firms have commented on XPO. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of XPO from $150.00 to $131.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of XPO from $108.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on XPO in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $156.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on XPO from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Stephens set a $131.00 price objective on XPO and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st.

XPO Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:XPO opened at $111.25 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. XPO has a 1 year low of $85.06 and a 1 year high of $161.00. The firm has a market cap of $13.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.96.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.08. XPO had a return on equity of 30.36% and a net margin of 4.81%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that XPO will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

XPO announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, March 27th that permits the company to buyback $750.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the transportation company to buy up to 5.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at XPO

In other news, COO David J. Bates bought 1,880 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $106.16 per share, for a total transaction of $199,580.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 21,106 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,240,612.96. This trade represents a 9.78 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On XPO

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in XPO during the 3rd quarter valued at about $108,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in XPO by 23.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 480,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,677,000 after acquiring an additional 91,973 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in XPO by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,135 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in XPO during the 4th quarter worth $262,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of XPO during the 4th quarter valued at $261,000. 97.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

XPO Company Profile

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.