Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) was the target of a large drop in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, a drop of 9.1% from the June 30th total of 1,430,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 660,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $153.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $169.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jacobs Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 22nd. William Blair downgraded shares of Jacobs Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $168.00 to $163.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jacobs Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.82.

Jacobs Solutions Price Performance

J traded down $1.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $144.76. 710,768 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 657,430. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.70. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $141.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Jacobs Solutions has a 1 year low of $120.71 and a 1 year high of $154.50.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $4.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Jacobs Solutions had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 14.59%. Jacobs Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jacobs Solutions will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jacobs Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 26th will be paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 26th. Jacobs Solutions’s payout ratio is 22.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jacobs Solutions news, insider Steven J. Demetriou sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.94, for a total transaction of $979,580.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 534,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $74,747,271.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jacobs Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Jacobs Solutions by 268.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,891,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,623,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106,589 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 134.6% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,658,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,215,000 after buying an additional 951,369 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 117.2% during the fourth quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 615,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,865,000 after buying an additional 332,053 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 14,897.6% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 321,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,737,000 after buying an additional 319,404 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 727,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,467,000 after acquiring an additional 240,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.