Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) Short Interest Update

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,110,000 shares, a drop of 7.0% from the May 31st total of 15,180,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI traded up $0.80 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.32. The stock had a trading volume of 3,126,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,512,294. Johnson Controls International has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $74.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $44.68 billion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.35.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.03. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 6.32%. The business had revenue of $6.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.23%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JCI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group downgraded Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $74.00 to $68.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $64.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total value of $611,901.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,662,259. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total value of $611,901.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,662,259. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total value of $77,033.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 104,556 shares in the company, valued at $6,901,741.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 18,067 shares of company stock valued at $1,162,178. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after purchasing an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,520,580 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 95.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,491,000 after purchasing an additional 6,247,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,400,000. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth $124,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

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.