Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jabil (NYSE:JBL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on JBL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Jabil currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.50.

Jabil Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE JBL opened at $145.02 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.91. The company has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Jabil has a 1 year low of $95.85 and a 1 year high of $174.80.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Jabil will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.07%.

Insider Transactions at Jabil

In other news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total transaction of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,283. The trade was a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total transaction of $8,627,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This trade represents a 89.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,804,458. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jabil

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Jabil by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Jabil by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jabil Company Profile

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).