Wall Street Zen Upgrades J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) to Buy

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

JILL has been the subject of a number of other reports. BTIG Research set a $26.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of J.Jill from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

J.Jill Stock Performance

NYSE JILL opened at $16.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $16.30. The firm has a market cap of $248.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.90. J.Jill has a 12-month low of $13.36 and a 12-month high of $30.40.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $153.99 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.02 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 40.48%. On average, equities analysts forecast that J.Jill will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.Jill

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JILL. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in J.Jill by 33.3% in the first quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 768,127 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,002,000 after buying an additional 192,096 shares in the last quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of J.Jill by 22.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 936,248 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,707,000 after purchasing an additional 173,785 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of J.Jill by 931.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 147,892 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,165,000 after purchasing an additional 133,558 shares in the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY grew its stake in shares of J.Jill by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 1,057,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,479,000 after buying an additional 125,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,313,000. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.