Johnson Controls International Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:JCI)

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 19,207 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,963% compared to the typical volume of 931 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. HSBC cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. TheStreet upgraded Johnson Controls International from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.08.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

NYSE:JCI opened at $63.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $43.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $61.61 and its 200-day moving average is $56.29. Johnson Controls International has a 1-year low of $47.90 and a 1-year high of $70.43.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51. The company had revenue of $6.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.94 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.08% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International will post 3.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 22nd. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after buying an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $419,897,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 67,792,459 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,907,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,096,187 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 40.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,990,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,398,000 after purchasing an additional 2,890,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter worth $124,553,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

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.