Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Trading 5.4% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) shares shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $72.00 to $73.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as high as $46.93 and last traded at $46.93. 138,532 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 501,264 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.51.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on JACK. UBS Group cut their target price on Jack in the Box from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Jack in the Box from $55.00 to $47.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wedbush cut their target price on Jack in the Box from $68.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Jack in the Box from $57.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Jack in the Box from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jack in the Box presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Brian M. Scott sold 696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.66, for a total transaction of $33,867.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,201 shares in the company, valued at approximately $642,360.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 13.6% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 712,416 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $33,156,000 after purchasing an additional 85,461 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 261.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 557,667 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $28,408,000 after purchasing an additional 403,423 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 136.7% during the second quarter. Clearline Capital LP now owns 250,426 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,757,000 after purchasing an additional 144,631 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Jack in the Box by 8.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 18,874 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 10.2% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 240,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,266,000 after buying an additional 22,226 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jack in the Box Trading Up 4.4 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $46.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.82. The company has a market capitalization of $901.05 million, a P/E ratio of 8.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.94.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.14. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 16.46% and a negative net margin of 2.30%. The company had revenue of $369.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $371.81 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.99%.

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.