J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $24.50 According to Analysts

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on JILL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded J.Jill from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Monday, October 5th. BTIG Research raised their target price on J.Jill from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on J.Jill from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th.

J.Jill Price Performance

J.Jill stock opened at $23.07 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.25 and a 200-day moving average of $17.37. J.Jill has a 52-week low of $10.40 and a 52-week high of $25.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.89 million, a P/E ratio of 12.89 and a beta of 0.86.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The specialty retailer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.67. J.Jill had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 28.51%. The business had revenue of $154.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $151.26 million. As a group, analysts predict that J.Jill will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 23rd. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Elliot Staples sold 13,287 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $321,545.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 60,270 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,534. This trade represents a 18.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark Webb sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total value of $582,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 121,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,341.04. This trade represents a 17.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 73,287 shares of company stock worth $1,651,880. Corporate insiders own 4.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.Jill

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fund 1 Investments LLC grew its position in shares of J.Jill by 96.8% during the second quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,328,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,090,000 after buying an additional 653,645 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in J.Jill by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 8,172 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in J.Jill by 843.9% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 41,834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 37,402 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in J.Jill during the 3rd quarter valued at $591,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in J.Jill by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. 40.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on women’s apparel, footwear and accessories. The company offers relaxed, versatile clothing designed primarily for women age 40 and older, with product categories that include dresses, tops, sweaters, pants, jackets, intimates and accessories.

J.Jill serves customers through a multichannel model that includes its retail stores, e-commerce website and direct-mail catalogs. Its merchandise is marketed under the J.Jill brand and is available primarily in the United States, with the company emphasizing comfort, fit and coordinated wardrobe collections.

The company traces its roots to 1959, when it began as a catalog retailer.