Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Stake in Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN)

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in shares of Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,585 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,080 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Jackson Financial worth $8,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JXN. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Jackson Financial by 108.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 774 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 402 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth $126,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Jackson Financial by 904.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. 89.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jackson Financial Trading Up 10.4 %

NYSE:JXN opened at $77.92 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $85.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.14. Jackson Financial Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.81 and a 52 week high of $115.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 1.49.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $4.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.72 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Jackson Financial Inc. will post 20.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jackson Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This is an increase from Jackson Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.70. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. Jackson Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JXN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $94.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Craig Donald Smith sold 20,607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.52, for a total transaction of $1,432,598.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 116,423 shares in the company, valued at $8,093,726.96. This trade represents a 15.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Scott Romine sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.43, for a total transaction of $591,010.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,276 shares in the company, valued at $7,199,852.68. The trade was a 7.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Jackson Financial Profile

Jackson Financial Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions.