Strong balance sheet adds to its appeal

Article Excerpt

FEDEX CORP. $81 (New York symbol FDX; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 317.2 million; Market cap: $25.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.6; Dividend yield: 0.6%; TSI Network Rating: Average; www.fedex.com) earned $464.0 million, or $1.46 a share, in its fiscal 2012 first fiscal quarter, which ended August 31, 2011. That’s up 22.1% from $380.0 million, or $1.20 a share, a year earlier. These gains mainly came from the company’s ground and less-than-truckload delivery operations. Increased earnings at this division offset lower profits from the air delivery division, due to slowing Asian demand. Revenue rose 11.3%, to $10.5 billion from $9.5 billion. The company’s fuel costs jumped 40% in the latest quarter. To offset this increase, FedEx will raise its shipping rates by an average of 3.9%, starting January 2, 2012. FedEx now expects to earn $6.25 to $6.75 a share in fiscal 2012, down from its previous forecast of $6.35 to $6.85 a share. The stock trades at just 12.5 times the…