Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Upgraded at Vertical Research

Vertical Research upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. Vertical Research currently has $105.00 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $90.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Johnson Controls International from $86.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.94.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

JCI opened at $91.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.60. Johnson Controls International has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $92.41.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.11% and a net margin of 6.83%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 24th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Johnson Controls International

In other Johnson Controls International news, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.91, for a total value of $123,586.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 144,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,576,224.64. This trade represents a 0.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 205,168 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total value of $18,274,313.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,260,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $112,275,139.89. This trade represents a 14.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 728,458 shares of company stock valued at $62,293,059. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,685,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,797,000 after acquiring an additional 105,194 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 60,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,953 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter worth $215,000. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in Johnson Controls International by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 11,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in Johnson Controls International by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 543 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Johnson Controls International

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.