Bank of New York Mellon Corp Grows Stock Holdings in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 186.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,856 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,511 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned about 0.70% of J.Jill worth $2,951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in J.Jill by 502.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 77,144 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 64,335 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of J.Jill by 28.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 140,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,473,000 after buying an additional 31,265 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.Jill during the third quarter valued at $1,167,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in J.Jill by 76.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 6,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,079 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.57, for a total transaction of $132,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,512,686.85. This represents a 3.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price target on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J.Jill presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.17.

J.Jill Stock Down 7.2 %

JILL opened at $18.09 on Friday. J.Jill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.82 and a 1-year high of $40.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $277.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.55. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.37 and a 200-day moving average of $25.40.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $94.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.33 million. J.Jill had a return on equity of 71.30% and a net margin of 6.80%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that J.Jill, Inc. will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current year.

J.Jill Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.89%.

J.Jill Company Profile

J.Jill, Inc operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.