Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) Short Interest Update

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,910,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 2,760,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,380,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JBL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Jabil from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Jabil from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jabil news, EVP Matthew Crowley sold 1,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.83, for a total value of $173,645.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,336,411.44. The trade was a 6.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.70, for a total transaction of $2,494,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 139,108 shares in the company, valued at $17,346,767.60. The trade was a 12.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,689 shares of company stock worth $4,902,631. 1.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of JBL. Synovus Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Jabil by 92.8% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 18,056 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,164,000 after acquiring an additional 8,693 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Jabil in the 3rd quarter valued at about $347,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Jabil by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 46,101 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,045,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Jabil by 365.6% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 20,767 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,474,000 after buying an additional 16,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Jabil by 157.9% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 15,091 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after buying an additional 9,239 shares during the period. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of JBL stock opened at $142.83 on Friday. Jabil has a 52 week low of $95.85 and a 52 week high of $156.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $134.87 and its 200-day moving average is $120.08.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 42.64%. The business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Jabil will post 7.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.07%.

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).