Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Trading Down 4.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) fell 4.9% during trading on Tuesday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $35.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the stock. Jack in the Box traded as low as $29.20 and last traded at $29.13. 410,300 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average session volume of 588,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.62.

JACK has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised Jack in the Box from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Jack in the Box in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Jack in the Box from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wedbush downgraded shares of Jack in the Box from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $50.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in Jack in the Box by 96.7% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 899 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Jack in the Box by 229.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,055 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Jack in the Box by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,235 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in Jack in the Box by 168.6% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,558 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jack in the Box Stock Down 5.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $543.86 million, a P/E ratio of -14.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.95. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.25.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The restaurant operator reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.21. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 15.79% and a negative net margin of 2.34%. The business had revenue of $469.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $470.47 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 20th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.10%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -82.63%.

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.