J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $23.75 According to Analysts

Shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.75.

JILL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on J.Jill from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $16.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen raised J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of J.Jill from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th.

J.Jill Stock Performance

Shares of JILL opened at $23.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. J.Jill has a 52-week low of $10.40 and a 52-week high of $24.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.99. The company has a market capitalization of $355.53 million, a PE ratio of 13.37 and a beta of 0.87.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The specialty retailer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.67. J.Jill had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 28.51%. The firm had revenue of $154.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.26 million. Equities research analysts predict that J.Jill will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J.Jill news, EVP Mark Webb sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total transaction of $582,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 121,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,341.04. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Elliot Staples sold 13,287 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total value of $321,545.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 60,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,534. The trade was a 18.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,529,280. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J.Jill

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JILL. Fund 1 Investments LLC lifted its stake in J.Jill by 96.8% during the second quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,328,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,090,000 after purchasing an additional 653,645 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,208,000 after purchasing an additional 8,172 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of J.Jill by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $357,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares during the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.Jill in the 1st quarter valued at about $258,000. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 47,456 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc (NYSE:JILL) is a women’s apparel retailer focused on providing clothing and accessories for women in a range of sizes. The company’s product assortment generally includes casual apparel such as tops, sweaters, dresses, pants, jackets, and outerwear, along with footwear and accessories.

J.Jill serves customers through an omnichannel retail model that combines its branded stores with e-commerce and direct-to-consumer offerings. Its products are designed around comfortable, versatile styling for everyday wear, with the company primarily targeting women seeking relaxed and contemporary apparel.

The company’s retail and digital operations serve customers across the United States.