Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,560,000 shares, a decline of 11.1% from the January 15th total of 2,880,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of Jabil stock traded down $0.22 on Tuesday, hitting $169.43. 1,067,733 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,466. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $155.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.77. Jabil has a 1-year low of $95.85 and a 1-year high of $174.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.61 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Jabil will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on JBL shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $153.17.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In related news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total value of $599,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,744,490.32. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total value of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Jabil by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,273 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $471,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Jabil by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,671 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Jabil by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Jabil by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,589 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Jabil by 2.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Jabil

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).