Wedbush Equities Analysts Increase Earnings Estimates for Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK)

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK – Get Rating) – Research analysts at Wedbush increased their FY2023 earnings estimates for shares of Jack in the Box in a report released on Thursday, March 2nd. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now anticipates that the restaurant operator will post earnings per share of $6.03 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $5.53. Wedbush has a “Neutral” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. The consensus estimate for Jack in the Box’s current full-year earnings is $5.54 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Jack in the Box’s Q1 2024 earnings at $2.25 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $1.41 EPS and Q4 2024 earnings at $1.50 EPS.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The restaurant operator reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.25. Jack in the Box had a net margin of 7.86% and a negative return on equity of 16.57%. The company had revenue of $527.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.98 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.97 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 52.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

JACK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $77.00 to $88.00 in a report on Thursday. Cowen upped their price target on Jack in the Box from $80.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on Jack in the Box from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $85.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $96.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jack in the Box has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.56.

Jack in the Box Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:JACK opened at $87.46 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $75.99 and a 200-day moving average of $78.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.62. Jack in the Box has a twelve month low of $54.80 and a twelve month high of $94.68.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 2.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 496,956 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $36,810,000 after purchasing an additional 12,664 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Jack in the Box during the third quarter valued at about $215,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 404.7% during the second quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,788 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 10,254 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Jack in the Box during the second quarter valued at about $523,000. Finally, Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 87.7% during the third quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 191,960 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $14,218,000 after purchasing an additional 89,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.78% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Jack in the Box

In other news, CMO Ryan Lee Ostrom sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total transaction of $26,044.14. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 10,536 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $841,721.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Timothy E. Mullany sold 521 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.98, for a total transaction of $39,585.58. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,241.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Ryan Lee Ostrom sold 326 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total value of $26,044.14. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 10,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $841,721.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,177 shares of company stock valued at $358,825. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is 28.57%.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

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Jack in the Box, Inc engages in operating and franchising a chain of quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. It operates through the Jack in the Box Restaurant segments. The Jack in the Box Restaurant segment offers a broad selection of distinctive products including burgers like Jumbo Jack burgers, and product lines such as Buttery Jack burgers including the Brunchfast menu.