Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Price Target Lowered to $45.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) had its price objective cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $55.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on JACK. Northcoast Research cut shares of Jack in the Box from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $53.00 to $45.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $60.00 to $52.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $52.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.88.

Jack in the Box Stock Up 11.8 %

Shares of JACK stock opened at $37.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $715.40 million, a P/E ratio of -19.46, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.94. Jack in the Box has a 52 week low of $32.69 and a 52 week high of $76.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.56.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $469.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.47 million. Jack in the Box had a negative net margin of 2.34% and a negative return on equity of 15.79%. On average, analysts anticipate that Jack in the Box will post 5.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.64%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is currently -90.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jack in the Box news, SVP Sarah L. Super sold 1,688 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.52, for a total value of $68,397.76. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,815 shares in the company, valued at $681,343.80. This represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 2,190 shares of company stock worth $92,961 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Aigen Investment Management LP grew its stake in Jack in the Box by 238.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 21,869 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $1,018,000 after acquiring an additional 15,409 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Jack in the Box by 70.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 216,117 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $10,060,000 after buying an additional 89,649 shares during the period. Biglari Sardar increased its holdings in Jack in the Box by 14.2% during the third quarter. Biglari Sardar now owns 96,717 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,501,000 after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Jack in the Box during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,475,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Jack in the Box by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 738,297 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $30,244,000 after buying an additional 25,881 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box Inc operates and franchises Jack in the Box and Del Taco quick-service restaurants in the United States. The company was founded in 1951 and is headquartered in San Diego, California.