River Road Asset Management LLC Has $32.47 Million Stock Position in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS)

River Road Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 97.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 257,461 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 126,904 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $32,466,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UPS. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in United Parcel Service during the 4th quarter worth approximately $393,680,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in United Parcel Service by 833.4% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 2,074,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $282,783,000 after buying an additional 1,851,900 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 77.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,150,901 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $397,329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378,136 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,264,665 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,933,674,000 after purchasing an additional 1,337,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 10,040,863 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,272,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277,328 shares during the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on UPS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $170.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $150.00 to $133.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $156.00 to $153.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on United Parcel Service from $166.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $138.00.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of UPS stock opened at $120.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.17. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.40 and a 52-week high of $158.95. The company has a market capitalization of $103.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average is $121.64 and its 200 day moving average is $127.72.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $2.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.23. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 39.13% and a net margin of 6.35%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Parcel Service Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $1.64 per share. This is a boost from United Parcel Service’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.63. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.04%.

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.