J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.08

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a 14.3% increase from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07.

J.Jill has a dividend payout ratio of 7.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect J.Jill to earn $3.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.7%.

J.Jill Price Performance

Shares of JILL opened at $18.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $277.44 million, a P/E ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $24.37 and a 200 day moving average of $25.40. J.Jill has a twelve month low of $17.82 and a twelve month high of $40.61.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.10. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 71.30%. The company had revenue of $94.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.33 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that J.Jill will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at J.Jill

In other news, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of J.Jill stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.33, for a total transaction of $131,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,205 shares in the company, valued at $3,744,257.65. This trade represents a 3.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

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.