Analysts Set Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) PT at $167.50

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $167.50.

JBL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JBL opened at $120.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $149.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.77. Jabil has a twelve month low of $95.85 and a twelve month high of $174.80.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The company had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. Jabil’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Jabil will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.26%. Jabil’s payout ratio is 7.66%.

Insider Transactions at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total transaction of $3,026,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares in the company, valued at $18,021,040.40. This represents a 14.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total value of $8,627,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This represents a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,400 shares of company stock worth $12,205,218. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jabil

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Jabil by 90.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jabil by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Jabil

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).