J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on JILL. Zacks Research raised shares of J.Jill from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $18.00 price objective on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of J.Jill from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group decreased their price target on shares of J.Jill from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J.Jill currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.00.

J.Jill Stock Performance

JILL opened at $13.86 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.79. J.Jill has a 1 year low of $13.32 and a 1 year high of $28.94. The stock has a market cap of $209.39 million, a P/E ratio of 6.33 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 10th. The specialty retailer reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $150.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $148.38 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 36.33%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that J.Jill will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 24th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 24th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio is 14.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.Jill

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in J.Jill by 502.7% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 74,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 62,001 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of J.Jill during the 3rd quarter worth $3,431,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of J.Jill by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 40,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $690,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the third quarter valued at about $288,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.