Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $55.00 to $50.00. The stock had previously closed at $45.46, but opened at $44.02. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Jack in the Box shares last traded at $43.46, with a volume of 165,135 shares changing hands.

JACK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Jack in the Box in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $77.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Jack in the Box from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two equities 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jack in the Box currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Jack in the Box news, CFO Brian M. Scott sold 696 shares of the 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 directly 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 the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jack in the Box

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 73.2% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 866 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Jack in the Box during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $97,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,993 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $163,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Jack in the Box during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $185,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Jack in the Box by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,997 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 503 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jack in the Box Trading Down 0.7 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $875.46 million, a P/E ratio of 7.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.89.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $369.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.22 earnings per share 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 $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.