Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $190.53 and last traded at $188.76, with a volume of 204669 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $183.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JKHY. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Jack Henry & Associates from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Jack Henry & Associates from $181.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $155.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Jack Henry & Associates from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jack Henry & Associates has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.80.

Jack Henry & Associates Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $14.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.69, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $173.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.43.

Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.03). Jack Henry & Associates had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 21.55%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. will post 5.83 EPS for the current year.

Jack Henry & Associates Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This is a boost from Jack Henry & Associates’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Jack Henry & Associates’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack Henry & Associates

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates by 647.4% during the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 142 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Jack Henry & Associates in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. National Pension Service acquired a new position in shares of Jack Henry & Associates in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jack Henry & Associates in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Jack Henry & Associates during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 98.75% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Jack Henry & Associates

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc is a financial technology company, which engages in the provision of technology solutions and payment processing services. It operates through the following segments: Core, Payments, Complementary, and Corporate and Other. The Core segment provides core information processing platforms to banks and credit unions which consist of integrated applications required to process deposit, loan, and general ledger transactions, and maintain centralized customer and member information.