XPO Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:XPO)

XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 5,663 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 341% compared to the average daily volume of 1,284 put options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On XPO

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of XPO by 306.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,231,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $660,679,000 after buying an additional 3,945,683 shares during the last quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in XPO by 79.3% during the second quarter. Durable Capital Partners LP now owns 3,595,056 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $454,020,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,759 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in XPO in the 2nd quarter valued at $168,840,000. Cooke & Bieler LP bought a new position in XPO in the 2nd quarter valued at $108,218,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of XPO by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,860,803 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,403,973,000 after purchasing an additional 735,450 shares during the last quarter. 97.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

XPO has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of XPO from $162.00 to $160.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of XPO in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Rothschild Redb upgraded XPO to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of XPO in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $163.00 price objective on shares of XPO in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, XPO has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $152.62.

XPO Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of XPO stock traded up $2.37 on Thursday, hitting $152.53. The company had a trading volume of 132,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,139,104. XPO has a 1 year low of $85.06 and a 1 year high of $155.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $140.50 and a 200-day moving average of $133.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 2.02.

XPO (NYSE:XPO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.06. XPO had a return on equity of 26.14% and a net margin of 4.13%.The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.02 earnings per share. XPO’s revenue was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that XPO will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

About XPO

XPO Logistics, Inc is a global provider of transportation and logistics services, offering a broad portfolio of solutions designed to optimize supply chains for businesses of all sizes. The company’s operations span freight brokerage, less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping, full truckload transportation, last-mile delivery, contract logistics and global forwarding. XPO aims to leverage advanced technology and operational expertise to drive efficiency, visibility and reliability across end-to-end supply-chain networks.

In its freight brokerage segment, XPO connects shippers to a network of carriers through digital platforms that facilitate rate comparisons, booking, tracking and settlement.