StockNews.com Downgrades Jabil (NYSE:JBL) to Buy

StockNews.com lowered shares of Jabil (NYSE:JBL) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on JBL. UBS Group raised their target price on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Jabil from $137.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Jabil from $135.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Jabil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.17.

Jabil Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:JBL opened at $145.00 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $131.14 and its 200 day moving average is $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Jabil has a 1 year low of $95.85 and a 1 year high of $156.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.25.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. Jabil had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 42.64%. Jabil’s revenue was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Jabil will post 7.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total value of $2,494,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 139,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,346,767.60. This trade represents a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.70, for a total value of $474,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 108,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,908,981.10. The trade was a 3.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,689 shares of company stock worth $5,377,431. 1.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jabil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Jabil by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,116,308 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $613,087,000 after buying an additional 520,672 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Jabil by 0.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,692,560 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $442,479,000 after acquiring an additional 9,685 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Jabil by 12,251.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,206,384 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $264,391,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188,521 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Jabil by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,636,737 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $178,058,000 after purchasing an additional 106,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Jabil by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,383,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $150,463,000 after purchasing an additional 310,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

About Jabil

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).