Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $427,000 in Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 10,247 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock, valued at approximately $427,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.05% of Jack in the Box at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Jack in the Box by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 20,626 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its position 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 worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position 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 worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position 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 worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 978 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Jack in the Box by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,688 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 993 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JACK opened at $23.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $447.88 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.89. Jack in the Box Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.01 and a fifty-two week high of $60.73.

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

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.41%. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is -82.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JACK has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $34.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush lowered shares of Jack in the Box from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Jack in the Box Profile

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.