Short Interest in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) Declines By 15.2%

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,530,000 shares, a decline of 15.2% from the July 15th total of 5,340,000 shares. Approximately 4.2% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Jabil Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of JBL traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $106.35. The stock had a trading volume of 794,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,096. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.26. Jabil has a 12 month low of $95.85 and a 12 month high of $156.94. The company has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.27.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The technology company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.85 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.53 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 40.30% and a net margin of 4.63%. Jabil’s revenue was down 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Jabil will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Jabil’s payout ratio is presently 2.91%.

Insider Transactions at Jabil

In other Jabil news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.42, for a total value of $145,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 112,753 shares in the company, valued at $13,126,704.26. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Jabil news, SVP May Yee Yap sold 4,274 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.04, for a total value of $500,228.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 24,829 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,905,986.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.42, for a total value of $145,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 112,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,126,704.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JBL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Jabil during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $192,964,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Jabil by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,070,238 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,919,948,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427,429 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil during the second quarter worth $78,660,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Jabil by 195.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,060,799 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $115,404,000 after purchasing an additional 702,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Jabil by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 1,339,559 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,660,000 after purchasing an additional 359,818 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on JBL. Bank of America reduced their target price on Jabil from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Jabil from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com raised Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Jabil from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Jabil from $149.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.63.

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).