Investors Buy Large Volume of Johnson Controls International Put Options (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 8,270 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 29% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,426 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Johnson Controls International from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lowered shares of Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. M. Kulyk & Associates LLC now owns 92,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,946,000 after acquiring an additional 2,336 shares during the period. RPG Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Johnson Controls International by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 196,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,330,000 after buying an additional 31,759 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Johnson Controls International by 249.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 23,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,274,000 after buying an additional 17,091 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd increased its position in Johnson Controls International by 89.4% in the 4th quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 253,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,632,000 after buying an additional 119,844 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 4,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of JCI opened at $60.75 on Friday. Johnson Controls International has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $70.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.21%.

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.