Renaissance Group LLC Makes New Investment in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Renaissance Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 270,997 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,996,000. Jabil accounts for approximately 1.6% of Renaissance Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Jabil by 70,781.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,808,730 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $835,876,000 after acquiring an additional 5,800,535 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Jabil by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,533,149 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $796,220,000 after buying an additional 416,841 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jabil by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,810,519 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $404,024,000 after acquiring an additional 34,574 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Jabil by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,877,599 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $270,187,000 after purchasing an additional 288,806 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Jabil in the 4th quarter valued at $218,430,000. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Jabil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.50.

Jabil Stock Up 3.5 %

NYSE:JBL opened at $120.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $13.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12. Jabil Inc. has a one year low of $95.85 and a one year high of $174.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $149.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $140.77.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.26%. Jabil’s payout ratio is currently 7.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total transaction of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total value of $3,026,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 119,108 shares in the company, valued at $18,021,040.40. The trade was a 14.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 73,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,218. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Profile

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).