J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Increases Dividend to $0.08 Per Share

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 20th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a 14.3% increase from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07.

J.Jill has a payout ratio of 7.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect J.Jill to earn $3.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.7%.

J.Jill Trading Down 7.2 %

NYSE JILL traded down $1.40 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.09. The stock had a trading volume of 201,491 shares, compared to its average volume of 136,876. J.Jill has a one year low of $17.99 and a one year high of $40.61. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.97.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. J.Jill had a return on equity of 71.30% and a net margin of 6.80%. The firm had revenue of $94.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.33 million. Sell-side analysts predict that J.Jill will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.57, for a total value of $132,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,512,686.85. This represents a 3.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.Jill Company 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.