John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $127.40 and last traded at $126.98, with a volume of 151194 shares. The stock had previously closed at $125.87.

John Bean Technologies Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.30.

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

John Bean Technologies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. John Bean Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.42%.

Institutional Trading of John Bean Technologies

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 192.5% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,911 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $846,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 21.5% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 24,445 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 4,325 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 3.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 393,382 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $38,752,000 after purchasing an additional 11,474 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 37.2% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 236,865 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $22,495,000 after purchasing an additional 64,280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna International Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of John Bean Technologies in the second quarter worth about $945,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.