Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Several other brokerages have also commented on JBL. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Barclays lifted their target price on Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jabil presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.83.

Jabil Price Performance

JBL stock opened at $153.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $158.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.29.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Jabil will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.21%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total value of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,283. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total transaction of $599,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,744,490.32. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jabil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Jabil by 4.9% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Jabil by 11,262.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 21,929 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 21,736 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Jabil by 45.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 7,692 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $941,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Jabil during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jabil during the third quarter worth approximately $211,000. 93.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).