Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $75.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as low as $59.19 and last traded at $59.65, with a volume of 76895 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.55.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Jack in the Box in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $86.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised Jack in the Box from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jack in the Box

In other news, Director Michael W. Murphy sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $96,676.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 71,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,155,720.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in shares of Jack in the Box in the 1st quarter valued at $1,129,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Jack in the Box by 30.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in shares of Jack in the Box in the 1st quarter valued at $599,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 153.2% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,699,000 after purchasing an additional 11,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Jack in the Box by 36.3% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,284,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $306,789,000 after buying an additional 874,419 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Trading Up 2.2 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $70.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.76.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95. The firm had revenue of $487.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.76 million. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 7.03%. Jack in the Box’s quarterly revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is currently 30.93%.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

Jack in the Box Inc operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.