Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Cut to “Hold” at StockNews.com

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.83.

Jabil Stock Down 1.1 %

JBL traded down $1.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $157.38. The stock had a trading volume of 1,260,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,941. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $158.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. Jabil has a twelve month low of $95.85 and a twelve month high of $174.80. The company has a market capitalization of $17.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.09, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.23.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Jabil will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jabil news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,744,490.32. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total transaction of $8,627,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,045. The trade was a 89.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jabil

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Jabil in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Jabil in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Jabil during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Jabil during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

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).