Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $98.33 and last traded at $97.79, with a volume of 3201333 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JCI has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.35.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $64.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average of $82.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.48.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.47%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In related news, Director George Oliver sold 15,669 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.49, for a total value of $1,214,190.81. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,003,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,791,668.57. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.72, for a total value of $113,361.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 145,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,599,419.44. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 460,396 shares of company stock valued at $38,645,569. Corporate insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $568,309,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $560,549,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,110,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,452,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 747.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,034,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,794,089 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

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.