Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Position in XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 447,893 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 39,753 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.38% of XPO worth $48,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in XPO by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,476 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,486 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of XPO by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 839 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new stake in shares of XPO during the 4th quarter worth about $252,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in XPO by 44.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 46,541 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $6,104,000 after purchasing an additional 14,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in XPO by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 5,589 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.73% of the company's stock.

XPO Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of XPO stock traded up $2.06 during trading on Thursday, reaching $134.19. 912,092 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,692,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. XPO, Inc. has a 1-year low of $85.06 and a 1-year high of $161.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $121.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.81 billion, a PE ratio of 41.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.93.

XPO (NYSE:XPO - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The transportation company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.08. XPO had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.81 EPS. XPO's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that XPO, Inc. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

XPO announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, March 27th that allows the company to buyback $750.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the transportation company to reacquire up to 5.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of XPO from $138.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of XPO from $126.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of XPO from $165.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $131.00 price target on shares of XPO in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of XPO in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $141.53.

About XPO

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.