Short Interest in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) Rises By 22.8%

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,560,000 shares, a growth of 22.8% from the February 28th total of 2,900,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Jabil Trading Down 5.2 %

Shares of Jabil stock traded down $6.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $117.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,385,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,454,752. Jabil has a twelve month low of $95.85 and a twelve month high of $174.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $150.60 and a 200-day moving average of $140.47. The stock has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Jabil will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

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Jabil Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. Jabil's payout ratio is currently 7.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jabil news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total transaction of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,093,283. This trade represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total value of $8,627,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This trade represents a 89.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 73,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,205,218 over the last ninety days. 1.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jabil

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Jabil in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Jabil during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Jabil by 90.3% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jabil by 113.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the period. 93.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on JBL. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group upped their target price on Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised Jabil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $167.50.

About Jabil

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).