John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Shares of John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 165,191 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 42% from the previous session’s volume of 286,018 shares.The stock last traded at $122.27 and had previously closed at $122.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBT has been the topic of a number of research reports. CJS Securities assumed coverage on shares of John Bean Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of John Bean Technologies in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “hold” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock.

John Bean Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.33.

John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $453.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $442.20 million. John Bean Technologies had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 10.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that John Bean Technologies Co. will post 5.23 earnings per share for the current year.

John Bean Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. John Bean Technologies’s payout ratio is currently 7.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of John Bean Technologies by 113.2% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 324 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in John Bean Technologies during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in John Bean Technologies during the third quarter worth $39,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in John Bean Technologies during the second quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of John Bean Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.92% of the company’s stock.

About John Bean Technologies

John Bean Technologies Corporation provides technology solutions to food and beverage industry in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers value-added processing that includes chilling, mixing/grinding, injecting, blending, marinating, tumbling, flattening, forming, portioning, coating, cooking, frying, freezing, extracting, pasteurizing, sterilizing, concentrating, high pressure processing, weighing, inspecting, filling, closing, sealing, end of line material handling, and packaging solutions to the food, beverage, and health market.