Royce & Associates LP Has $10.42 Million Stock Holdings in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL)

Royce & Associates LP grew its position in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 39.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 422,463 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,282 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in J.Jill were worth $10,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JILL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. CWM LLC bought a new stake in J.Jill during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in J.Jill during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the second quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the first quarter worth $201,000. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.Jill

In other news, CFO Mark W. Webb sold 1,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total transaction of $36,530.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,112 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,535.20. This trade represents a 1.27 % 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. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

J.Jill Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:JILL opened at $25.47 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.70. J.Jill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $40.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $384.09 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.61.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $155.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.13 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 90.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that J.Jill, Inc. will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 18th were issued a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.89%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JILL. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of J.Jill from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on J.Jill from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J.Jill has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.33.

J.Jill Profile

J.Jill, Inc operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.