Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) Short Interest Up 5.5% in September

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,930,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 1,830,000 shares. Currently, 10.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 546,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on JACK. TD Cowen cut their price target on Jack in the Box from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $87.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jack in the Box currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $65.56.

Jack in the Box Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ JACK opened at $46.71 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $905.71 million, a PE ratio of 8.22, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.43. Jack in the Box has a twelve month low of $40.84 and a twelve month high of $86.20.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $369.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $371.81 million. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 16.46% and a negative net margin of 2.30%. The business’s revenue was down 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Jack in the Box will post 6.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is currently 30.99%.

Insider Transactions at Jack in the Box

In other news, CFO Brian M. Scott sold 696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.66, for a total transaction of $33,867.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $642,360.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Jack in the Box

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 137,073 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $9,387,000 after acquiring an additional 23,770 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Jack in the Box during the second quarter valued at $3,311,000. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Jack in the Box during the first quarter valued at $1,096,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Jack in the Box by 26.2% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 626,955 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,937,000 after buying an additional 130,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 8.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 245,491 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,505,000 after buying an additional 18,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.