Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $139.48, but opened at $146.30. Jabil shares last traded at $145.95, with a volume of 440,800 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JBL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.83.

Jabil Trading Up 5.3 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.60 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is 3.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total transaction of $8,627,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,045. The trade was a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total transaction of $599,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,744,490.32. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the third quarter worth $39,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Jabil by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Company Profile

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).