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

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

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Jabil from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price target on Jabil from $151.00 to $149.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Jabil from $141.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil currently has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $144.50.

Jabil Stock Performance

Shares of JBL stock opened at $120.89 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.25 and a 200 day moving average of $131.02. Jabil has a 1 year low of $75.48 and a 1 year high of $156.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.40.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, March 15th. The technology company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 39.47% and a net margin of 4.70%. As a group, research analysts expect that Jabil will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Kenneth S. Wilson sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total value of $2,013,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 339,725 shares in the company, valued at $45,591,095. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Kenneth S. Wilson sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total transaction of $2,013,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 339,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,591,095. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP May Yee Yap sold 7,877 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.65, for a total value of $1,100,023.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,050,687.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 107,177 shares of company stock valued at $13,678,039. 2.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jabil

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Jabil by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 10,718 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,436,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Jabil by 1.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 75,887 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $10,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,329 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Jabil in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. Waycross Investment Management Co increased its stake in Jabil by 3.9% during the first quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 15,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its position in Jabil by 6.6% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 26,735 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,648 shares during the period. 93.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Jabil

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).