Employees Retirement System of Texas Acquires 25,518 Shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS

Key Points

• Employees Retirement System of Texas boosted its UPS stake by 75.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 25,518 shares and bringing its total holdings to 59,462 shares valued at about $5.9 million.
• Several other major institutions also increased positions in UPS, and institutional investors now own 60.26% of the company’s stock.
• UPS reported quarterly earnings of $1.07 per share, topping estimates, while revenue came in slightly above expectations at $21.2 billion; the company also announced a $1.64 quarterly dividend for a 6.3% annualized yield.

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS - Free Report) by 75.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,462 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,518 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $5,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of UPS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,496,420 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,794,160,000 after acquiring an additional 1,218,432 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,063,250 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,594,713,000 after acquiring an additional 288,720 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,991,490 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $667,109,000 after acquiring an additional 761,217 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,724,265 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $561,678,000 after acquiring an additional 993,461 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Parcel Service by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,072,282 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $423,746,000 after acquiring an additional 486,384 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.26% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on UPS shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $99.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $118.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $111.50.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

NYSE UPS opened at $104.43 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $100.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.98. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.00 and a twelve month high of $122.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The transportation company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $21.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.99 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 5.94% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be paid a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.3%. United Parcel Service's payout ratio is presently 106.15%.

United Parcel Service Profile

United Parcel Service NYSE: UPS is a global package delivery and supply chain management company that provides a broad range of transportation, logistics and e-commerce services. Its core business centers on small-package delivery and last-mile distribution for business and individual customers, supported by a network of ground transportation, air cargo operations (UPS Airlines) and sorting facilities. In addition to parcel delivery, UPS offers freight transportation, contract logistics, warehousing, customs brokerage and reverse-logistics solutions designed to support domestic and international commerce.

The company traces its roots to 1907 when it began as a small messenger service in the United States and later evolved into the United Parcel Service.

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