Analysts Set Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) Price Target at $42.50

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eighteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.32.

A number of research firms have recently commented on JACK. Wedbush lowered Jack in the Box from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Jack in the Box from $45.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Jack in the Box from $24.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Jack in the Box from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Jack in the Box Price Performance

NASDAQ JACK opened at $21.99 on Friday. Jack in the Box has a fifty-two week low of $21.45 and a fifty-two week high of $60.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $26.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.41. The firm has a market cap of $415.15 million, a P/E ratio of -11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.35.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $336.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $345.81 million. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 15.79% and a negative net margin of 2.34%. The business’s revenue was down 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Jack in the Box will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 20th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.00%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is -16.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Jack in the Box by 96.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 899 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in Jack in the Box during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Jack in the Box by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Jack in the Box by 168.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Jack in the Box by 1,973.4% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,638 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Jack in the Box

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.