Johnson Controls International Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 19,207 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,963% compared to the average volume of 931 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the first quarter valued at $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the third quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 114.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 503 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of JCI opened at $60.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Johnson Controls International has a 1 year low of $47.90 and a 1 year high of $70.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.15. The firm has a market cap of $41.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.23.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.03. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Argus cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.25.

About Johnson Controls International

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.