Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for XPO (NYSE:XPO) Stock

Key Points

• Bank of America raised XPO’s price target to $230 from $228 and maintained a “buy” rating, implying approximately 28% upside from the stock’s reported $179.71 price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $225.91; Wells Fargo and UBS set higher targets of $250 and $257, respectively.
• XPO exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.70 in earnings per share and $2.35 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 13.2% year over year. However, insiders sold 8,365 shares worth about $1.6 million over the past 90 days.

XPO (NYSE:XPO - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Bank of America from $228.00 to $230.00 in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the transportation company's stock. Bank of America's target price indicates a potential upside of 27.99% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on XPO from $235.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on XPO from $236.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on XPO from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup dropped their price target on XPO from $221.00 to $220.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on XPO from $208.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $225.91.

XPO Stock Up 2.1%

XPO stock opened at $179.71 on Friday. XPO has a 1-year low of $121.48 and a 1-year high of $232.05. The stock has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 53.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock's fifty day moving average is $191.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $202.13.

XPO (NYSE:XPO - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $2.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that XPO will post 5.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at XPO

In other news, COO David J. Bates sold 2,615 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.41, for a total value of $469,157.15. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Christopher Brown sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.94, for a total value of $757,275.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 31,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,261,149.70. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 8,365 shares of company stock valued at $1,612,085 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.87% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of XPO

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of XPO during the second quarter worth about $2,985,276,000. MFN Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in XPO in the second quarter valued at about $2,026,148,865. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in XPO by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 2,970,231 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $403,684,000 after purchasing an additional 261,935 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in XPO by 115.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,420,899 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $470,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new position in XPO during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $236,104,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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