Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN)

Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors bought 3,745 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 572% compared to the average volume of 557 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Jackson Financial from $139.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Jackson Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Jackson Financial from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Jackson Financial from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jackson Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jackson Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.80.

Jackson Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:JXN traded up $4.57 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $137.35. 95,103 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 605,073. The company has a current ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Jackson Financial has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $138.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.75 and a 200 day moving average of $113.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 193.37 and a beta of 1.30.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The company reported $7.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.72 by $1.58. Jackson Financial had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion.

Jackson Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Jackson Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 507.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher Raub sold 5,000 shares of Jackson Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.69, for a total value of $653,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,509,890.40. The trade was a 10.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Carrie Chelko sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.24, for a total transaction of $1,006,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,861,895.36. This represents a 8.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jackson Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Jackson Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,895,000. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Jackson Financial by 9,102.2% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,427,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,457,000 after purchasing an additional 7,346,353 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jackson Financial by 13.8% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in Jackson Financial by 9.7% in the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 7,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Allocation Strategies LLC lifted its position in Jackson Financial by 8.2% in the second quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 23,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,788 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.96% of the company’s stock.

About Jackson Financial

Jackson Financial Inc is a U.S.-based financial services holding company headquartered in Lansing, Michigan. The company operates primarily through its principal subsidiary, Jackson National Life Insurance Company, and specializes in designing and distributing retirement products. Jackson Financial has been publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker JXN since its initial public offering in May 2022.

The company’s core offerings include a broad range of fixed, variable and indexed annuity products aimed at helping individuals preserve and grow retirement assets.