Anchor Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL)

Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,090 shares during the quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.35% of J.Jill worth $1,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in JILL. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of J.Jill by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,079 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in J.Jill by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 106,388 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,632,000 after acquiring an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in J.Jill by 196.6% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,847 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,887 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of J.Jill by 22.3% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 10,540 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise boosted its position in shares of J.Jill by 58.4% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 6,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 2,312 shares during the period. 40.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark W. Webb sold 6,740 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $192,359.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 97,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,773,745.52. This trade represents a 6.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.57, for a total transaction of $132,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 132,205 shares in the company, valued at $3,512,686.85. This represents a 3.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,341 shares of company stock worth $781,538. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, J.Jill has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.17.

J.Jill Trading Up 1.3 %

JILL stock opened at $23.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.49. J.Jill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.18 and a 1-year high of $40.61. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.77. The company has a market capitalization of $364.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.39 and a beta of 0.69.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 11th. The specialty retailer reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.09. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 71.30%. Research analysts anticipate that J.Jill, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a $0.07 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. This represents a $0.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.89%.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.