Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) reached a new 52-week low on Monday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $80.00 to $75.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as low as $59.19 and last traded at $59.65, with a volume of 76895 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $59.55.

JACK has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Jack in the Box from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $98.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Jack in the Box in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Northcoast Research raised shares of Jack in the Box from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Jack in the Box from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jack in the Box presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael W. Murphy sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.58, for a total transaction of $96,676.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 71,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,155,720.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Jack in the Box by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 499,987 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $40,814,000 after purchasing an additional 53,294 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Jack in the Box by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,105 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 24,955 shares during the period. IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Jack in the Box during the third quarter worth about $2,222,000. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 143.7% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 571,393 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $39,460,000 after purchasing an additional 336,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Jack in the Box by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 132,402 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,144,000 after buying an additional 14,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Stock Up 2.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $70.21 and its 200-day moving average is $72.19.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The restaurant operator reported $1.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.95. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 17.24% and a net margin of 7.03%. The firm had revenue of $487.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $480.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.89%. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is presently 30.93%.

Jack in the Box Company Profile

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.