Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,280,000 shares, a decrease of 21.9% from the November 30th total of 5,480,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.
Analyst Ratings Changes
JBL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Jabil from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Jabil from $125.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, September 29th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Jabil from $144.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $133.88.
Jabil Stock Down 0.5 %
Jabil stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $127.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,633,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,070,156. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Jabil has a 52-week low of $64.74 and a 52-week high of $141.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $125.76 and its 200 day moving average is $117.15. The company has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32.
Jabil (NYSE:JBL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 14th. The technology company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $8.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.35 billion. Jabil had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 41.09%. The firm’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Jabil will post 8.29 earnings per share for the current year.
Jabil Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.25%. Jabil’s payout ratio is 5.46%.
Jabil announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, September 28th that allows the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 15.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Jabil
In other news, SVP Daryn G. Smith sold 1,541 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.76, for a total value of $212,288.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,669 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,082,241.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Daryn G. Smith sold 1,541 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.76, for a total transaction of $212,288.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,669 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,082,241.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Kenneth S. Wilson sold 15,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.87, for a total value of $1,918,050.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 304,750 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,968,382.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,601 shares of company stock worth $40,201,576 over the last quarter. 2.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Trading of Jabil
Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Jabil by 93.1% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 553,980 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $59,791,000 after acquiring an additional 267,049 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Jabil by 4.6% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,358 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Jabil by 29.2% in the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 540 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jabil by 21.1% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 51,320 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,524,000 after buying an additional 8,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Jabil during the 2nd quarter worth $224,000. 92.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.