Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Stock Price Down 4.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) shares were down 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $35.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as low as $29.20 and last traded at $29.13. Approximately 410,300 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 588,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.62.

JACK has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Jack in the Box from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Jack in the Box from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Jack in the Box from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack in the Box

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 436,361 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $18,170,000 after acquiring an additional 47,851 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Jack in the Box by 70.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 216,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $10,060,000 after purchasing an additional 89,649 shares during the period. Biglari Sardar raised its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 14.2% during the 3rd quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 96,717 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $4,501,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,655,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $666,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Stock Down 1.7 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.15. The stock has a market cap of $534.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.95.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $469.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.47 million. Jack in the Box had a negative net margin of 2.34% and a negative return on equity of 15.79%. On average, research analysts expect that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.21%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -82.63%.

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.