United Parcel Service, Inc. $UPS Stock Holdings Lifted by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in shares of United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) by 10.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 722,383 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 65,583 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $72,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of UPS. Andra AP fonden increased its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 95.9% in the second quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 332,983 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,611,000 after acquiring an additional 163,000 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in United Parcel Service by 14.6% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 94,361 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,525,000 after purchasing an additional 12,035 shares during the last quarter. Equity Investment Corp grew its stake in United Parcel Service by 16.8% in the second quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,130,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $114,118,000 after purchasing an additional 162,364 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC increased its position in United Parcel Service by 329.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 8,785 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $887,000 after purchasing an additional 6,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Parcel Service by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 182,836 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. 60.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $96.00 price target (down previously from $125.00) on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of United Parcel Service from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Stephens upgraded shares of United Parcel Service to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Parcel Service from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Parcel Service currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.00.

United Parcel Service Stock Performance

NYSE:UPS opened at $100.91 on Monday. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.00 and a 1 year high of $136.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.61 billion, a PE ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.11.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The transportation company reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.43. The company had revenue of $21.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.94 billion. United Parcel Service had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 40.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

United Parcel Service Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $1.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. United Parcel Service’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.39%.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

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.