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

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,880,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the December 31st total of 2,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on JBL shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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. Barclays upped their target price on Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.17.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of Jabil stock traded down $5.51 during trading on Monday, hitting $156.90. 138,159 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,407,539. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $147.70 and its 200-day moving average is $127.02. Jabil has a 52 week low of $95.85 and a 52 week high of $174.80.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last announced 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. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The company’s revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Jabil will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jabil news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total value of $599,240.00. Following 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,021,040.40. This represents a 14.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,000 shares of company stock worth $12,252,740. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Jabil by 511.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 198,348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,542,000 after purchasing an additional 165,900 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Jabil by 249.4% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 30,624 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,407,000 after buying an additional 21,860 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. bought a new position in Jabil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Jabil by 105.4% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,023 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,000 after buying an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Jabil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,109,000. 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).