United Parcel shares close lower on Tuesday, company to invest $130 million in natural gas vehicles, CNG fueling stations

According to an announcement by United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) on Tuesday, it intends to purchase 730 compressed natural gas vehicles and establish 5 additional CNG fueling stations in the United States, with the total investment being estimated at $130 million.

United Parcel shares closed lower for the fourth time in the past eight trading sessions in New York on Tuesday. It has also been the steepest daily loss since April 6th. The stock went down 1.67% ($1.95) to $114.82, after touching an intraday low at $114.11, or a price level not seen since May 30th ($113.91).

Shares of United Parcel Service Inc have retreated 3.63% so far in 2018 compared with a 3.33% gain for the underlying index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, United Parcel’s stock soared 3.93%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

The package delivery company plans to have at least 25% of the new vehicles in its fleet running on alternative fuels by the year 2020.

According to Reuters, UPS also intends to replace 40% of its ground transportation fuel with sources different from diesel and conventional gasoline.

About 400 semi-tractors for pulling trailers of goods are to be supplied by Paccar Inc’s Kenworth and Daimler AG’s Freightliner, UPS said.

At the same time, 330 terminal trucks, which move trailers at sorting facilities, are to be supplied by Terminal Investment Corp.

The new additions are expected to become part of United Parcels “rolling laboratory”, which includes about 9 100 fully-electric, hybrid electric, ethanol and CNG vehicles.

According to Mike Casteel, director of fleet procurement for United Parcel, deliveries of the new vehicles are to begin as soon as this summer and be finalized by late November.

Meanwhile, United Parcel expects to establish new compressed natural gas fueling stations in Fort Worth (Texas), Arlington (Texas), Plainfield (Indiana), Goodyear (Arizona) and Edgerton (Kansas).

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding United Parcel’s stock price, have a median target of $124.50, with a high estimate of $144.00 and a low estimate of $90.00. The median estimate represents an 8.43% upside compared to the closing price of $114.82 on June 19th.

The same media also reported that 16 out of 26 surveyed investment analysts had rated United Parcel’s stock as “Hold”, while 8 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the United Parcel stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $114.99
R2 – $115.17
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $115.34
R4 (Long Breakout) – $115.86
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $116.47
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $116.72

S1 – $114.65
S2 – $114.47
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $114.30
S4 (Short Breakout) – $113.78
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $113.17
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $112.92

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $117.33
R1 – $118.61
R2 – $120.45
R3 – $121.73
R4 – $123.01

S1 – $115.49
S2 – $114.21
S3 – $112.37
S4 – $110.53