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 research report report published on Monday.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on JBL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Jabil from $175.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Jabil from $175.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jabil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.50.

Jabil Stock Performance

Shares of JBL opened at $167.21 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Jabil has a 52 week low of $95.85 and a 52 week high of $174.80. The stock has a market cap of $17.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.66%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In related news, Chairman Mark T. Mondello sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.56, for a total value of $2,631,200.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,730,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $227,624,059.52. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Dastoor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.90, for a total transaction of $1,699,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 221,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,665,640.70. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jabil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Jabil during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Jabil by 110.5% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 221 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupe la Francaise raised its position in shares of Jabil by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 246 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

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).