Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $31.17 and last traded at $31.34, with a volume of 408366 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on JACK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Jack in the Box from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wedbush cut Jack in the Box from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.56.

Jack in the Box Trading Up 0.7 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $591.01 million, a P/E ratio of -16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.95.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $469.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $470.47 million. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 15.79% and a negative net margin of 2.34%. As a group, research analysts expect that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is -82.63%.

Insider Transactions at Jack in the Box

In related news, SVP Sarah L. Super sold 1,688 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.52, for a total transaction of $68,397.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,815 shares in the company, valued at $681,343.80. The trade was a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JACK. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Jack in the Box during the 3rd quarter worth $229,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Jack in the Box by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 18,697 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $870,000 after buying an additional 4,602 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Jack in the Box during the 3rd quarter worth $241,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Jack in the Box by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 388,510 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $18,081,000 after purchasing an additional 8,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Jack in the Box during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,137,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

Jack in the Box Inc operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.