XPO (NYSE:XPO) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

XPO, Inc. (NYSE:XPO) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $136.31, but opened at $149.99. XPO shares last traded at $148.90, with a volume of 360,526 shares changing hands.

The transportation company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.21. XPO had a return on equity of 31.16% and a net margin of 4.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of XPO from $170.00 to $165.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on XPO from $148.00 to $176.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of XPO from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of XPO from $124.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of XPO from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On XPO

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of XPO by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $947,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in XPO during the fourth quarter worth about $1,576,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in XPO by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 29,329 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,846,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in XPO in the fourth quarter valued at about $732,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of XPO by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 373 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.73% of the company’s stock.

XPO Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $127.70.

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.