Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) Short Interest Up 23.2% in April

Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,500,000 shares, an increase of 23.2% from the March 31st total of 2,840,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 957,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JXN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Jackson Financial from $92.00 to $86.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $118.00 to $106.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Jackson Financial from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $91.40.

Insider Transactions at Jackson Financial

In other news, CEO Craig Donald Smith sold 20,607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.52, for a total transaction of $1,432,598.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 116,423 shares in the company, valued at $8,093,726.96. This represents a 15.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Romine sold 7,000 shares of Jackson Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.43, for a total transaction of $591,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,199,852.68. This trade represents a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jackson Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JXN. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Jackson Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jackson Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $37,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Jackson Financial by 161.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. 89.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jackson Financial Stock Up 4.9 %

Jackson Financial stock opened at $81.66 on Friday. Jackson Financial has a fifty-two week low of $64.70 and a fifty-two week high of $115.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.78. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.13 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $4.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.72 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Research analysts expect that Jackson Financial will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Jackson Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This is a positive change from Jackson Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. Jackson Financial’s payout ratio is presently 27.95%.

About Jackson Financial

Jackson Financial Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions.