Citigroup Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by analysts at Citigroup in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $110.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $94.00. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 3.54% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Vertical Research raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Johnson Controls International has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.00.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of JCI opened at $106.24 on Monday. Johnson Controls International has a 12 month low of $64.31 and a 12 month high of $107.20. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that allows the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson Controls International

In other Johnson Controls International news, Director George Oliver sold 100,000 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total transaction of $9,170,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 904,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $82,924,768.50. The trade was a 9.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total transaction of $2,572,035.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 147,673 shares in the company, valued at $13,426,429.16. This represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,705,106. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,444,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,483,104,000 after purchasing an additional 288,576 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 23,344,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,842,571,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,452,912,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,573 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,818,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,087,670,000 after buying an additional 343,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 7,378,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $591,078,000 after buying an additional 178,169 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.