Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.32.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on JACK shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Jack in the Box from $44.00 to $27.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Jack in the Box from $45.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $24.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in Jack in the Box by 33.9% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,313 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the first quarter valued at about $618,000. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 63.8% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 167,184 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,546,000 after purchasing an additional 65,142 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Jack in the Box during the 1st quarter worth approximately $368,000. Finally, Seven Six Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Seven Six Capital Management LLC now owns 126,200 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $3,431,000 after purchasing an additional 49,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Trading Up 6.3%

Shares of NASDAQ JACK opened at $21.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $407.22 million, a P/E ratio of -11.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.20. Jack in the Box has a twelve month low of $18.24 and a twelve month high of $60.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.65.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The restaurant operator reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.07. Jack in the Box had a negative net margin of 2.34% and a negative return on equity of 15.79%. The firm had revenue of $336.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $345.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Jack in the Box’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Jack in the Box will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 20th were given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 20th. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is currently -16.21%.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

Jack in the Box Inc operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.