Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $159.60 and last traded at $158.07, with a volume of 95180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on JBL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their target price on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Jabil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Jabil from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.17.

Jabil Stock Up 1.5 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $139.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.23.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. Jabil had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 42.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Jabil Inc. will post 7.89 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.20%. Jabil's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other news, SVP Francis Mckay sold 11,755 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.71, for a total transaction of $1,430,701.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 41,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,051,816.97. This trade represents a 22.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Matthew Crowley sold 1,380 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.83, for a total transaction of $173,645.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 18,568 shares in the company, valued at $2,336,411.44. The trade was a 6.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,689 shares of company stock worth $8,527,871 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jabil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JBL. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Jabil by 11.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,116,308 shares of the technology company's stock worth $613,087,000 after acquiring an additional 520,672 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in Jabil by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 3,692,560 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $442,479,000 after purchasing an additional 9,685 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Jabil by 12,251.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,206,384 shares of the technology company's stock worth $264,391,000 after buying an additional 2,188,521 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Jabil by 7.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,636,737 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $178,058,000 after buying an additional 106,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Jabil by 195.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,060,799 shares of the technology company's stock worth $115,404,000 after acquiring an additional 702,199 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company's stock.

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).