Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

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

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Jabil from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $153.17.

Jabil Stock Performance

JBL opened at $169.04 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.23. Jabil has a 52-week low of $95.85 and a 52-week high of $170.80.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Jabil will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other news, SVP Francis Mckay sold 11,755 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.71, for a total value of $1,430,701.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 41,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,051,816.97. The trade was a 22.07 % 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 Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total value of $3,026,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares in the company, valued at $18,021,040.40. This represents a 14.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 40,038 shares of company stock worth $5,579,666 in the last ninety days. 1.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jabil

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Jabil by 40.9% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 8,213 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $893,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Jabil by 24.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Jabil by 129.2% during the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 59,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,419,000 after acquiring an additional 33,256 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Jabil by 260.4% in the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,084 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $662,000 after acquiring an additional 4,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Jabil by 17.9% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 17,863 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares in the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jabil Company 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).