Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) Short Interest Update

Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,370,000 shares, an increase of 7.9% from the May 15th total of 1,270,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 588,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

J has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus boosted their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair downgraded shares of Jacobs Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jacobs Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $168.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jacobs Solutions news, insider Steven J. Demetriou sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.20, for a total value of $1,072,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 555,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $85,047,141.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Kevin C. Berryman sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.31, for a total value of $217,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 231,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,654,377.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Steven J. Demetriou sold 7,000 shares of Jacobs Solutions stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.20, for a total transaction of $1,072,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 555,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,047,141.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 24,000 shares of company stock worth $3,503,195 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jacobs Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of J. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Jacobs Solutions by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 220,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,057,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Jacobs Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,114,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Jacobs Solutions by 53.3% in the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 9.2% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,367,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Jacobs Solutions Price Performance

Shares of J traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $140.98. The company had a trading volume of 567,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 649,528. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.92. Jacobs Solutions has a 1-year low of $114.09 and a 1-year high of $154.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.07. Jacobs Solutions had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 14.59%. The business had revenue of $4.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Jacobs Solutions will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Jacobs Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Jacobs Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.39%.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.