Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) from an underperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has $69.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $61.00.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on JCI. UBS Group downgraded shares of Johnson Controls International from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $62.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $68.31.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

Johnson Controls International stock opened at $69.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.35 billion, a PE ratio of 28.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Johnson Controls International has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $75.36.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Investors of record on Monday, June 24th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.71, for a total value of $82,518.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,344,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 2,892 shares of company stock worth $197,011 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Johnson Controls International

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Trail Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 3,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 50,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,284,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 16,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Johnson Controls International

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.