John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) Reaches New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $113.09 and last traded at $111.81, with a volume of 21857 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $112.15.

John Bean Technologies Trading Up 5.2 %

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $93.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a PE ratio of 5.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.96, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. John Bean Technologies had a return on equity of 9.67% and a net margin of 36.66%. The firm had revenue of $453.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that John Bean Technologies Co. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

John Bean Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 19th were issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 19th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. John Bean Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 2.13%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JBT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 0.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,524,626 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $369,698,000 after purchasing an additional 31,798 shares in the last quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in John Bean Technologies by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,545,159 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $162,072,000 after purchasing an additional 112,035 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 57.5% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,279,425 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $121,507,000 after buying an additional 466,846 shares during the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of John Bean Technologies by 2.7% during the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 951,534 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $90,367,000 after acquiring an additional 24,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in John Bean Technologies by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 778,178 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $73,908,000 after purchasing an additional 19,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.92% of the company's stock.

About John Bean Technologies

John Bean Technologies Corporation provides technology solutions to food and beverage industry in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers value-added processing that includes chilling, mixing/grinding, injecting, blending, marinating, tumbling, flattening, forming, portioning, coating, cooking, frying, freezing, extracting, pasteurizing, sterilizing, concentrating, high pressure processing, weighing, inspecting, filling, closing, sealing, end of line material handling, and packaging solutions to the food, beverage, and health market.