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

Shares of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $86.67.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on JACK. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Jack in the Box from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jack in the Box from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $95.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $98.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd.

Jack in the Box Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of JACK stock opened at $55.23 on Monday. Jack in the Box has a 12-month low of $53.71 and a 12-month high of $99.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.74 and a 200-day moving average of $71.43.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.95. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 7.03%. The business had revenue of $487.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.76 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. Jack in the Box’s revenue was down 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Jack in the Box will post 6.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.93%.

Insider Transactions at Jack in the Box

In other Jack in the Box news, Director Michael W. Murphy sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total value of $96,676.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,155,720.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in Jack in the Box by 74.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 996,472 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $81,342,000 after buying an additional 425,079 shares during the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Jack in the Box in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,424,000. Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 840.9% in the fourth quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 129,763 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,593,000 after buying an additional 115,972 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 678.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 105,203 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $8,588,000 after purchasing an additional 91,688 shares during the period. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,786,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.