Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the March 15th total of 2,700,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 675,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Jack Henry & Associates Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Jack Henry & Associates stock traded up $2.85 on Tuesday, reaching $171.57. 44,476 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 536,394. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.51 and a 200 day moving average of $175.96. Jack Henry & Associates has a one year low of $157.00 and a one year high of $196.00. The company has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.71.

Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.03). Jack Henry & Associates had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 21.55%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jack Henry & Associates will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack Henry & Associates Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. This is a positive change from Jack Henry & Associates’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Jack Henry & Associates’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.88%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jack Henry & Associates

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Jack Henry & Associates by 7.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,791,810 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $316,326,000 after buying an additional 131,515 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp acquired a new position in Jack Henry & Associates in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $900,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY raised its position in Jack Henry & Associates by 21.4% during the 4th quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 121,782 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,348,000 after purchasing an additional 21,466 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden increased its position in Jack Henry & Associates by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 29,900 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $5,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,900 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in Jack Henry & Associates by 50.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 780,319 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $136,720,000 after acquiring an additional 263,021 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Northcoast Research lowered Jack Henry & Associates from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Jack Henry & Associates from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jack Henry & Associates has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $186.45.

Jack Henry & Associates Company Profile

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc is a financial technology company, which engages in the provision of technology solutions and payment processing services. It operates through the following segments: Core, Payments, Complementary, and Corporate and Other. The Core segment provides core information processing platforms to banks and credit unions which consist of integrated applications required to process deposit, loan, and general ledger transactions, and maintain centralized customer and member information.