Royce & Associates LP Grows Position in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL)

Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 39.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 422,463 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 119,282 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 2.80% of J.Jill worth $10,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 539.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 304,273 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,640,000 after purchasing an additional 256,687 shares during the last quarter. Divisadero Street Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of J.Jill in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,120,000. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY grew its position in shares of J.Jill by 109.3% during the second quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 346,856 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,130,000 after acquiring an additional 181,116 shares during the last quarter. Ghisallo Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of J.Jill in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,147,000. Finally, Resolute Capital Asset Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the second quarter worth about $1,749,000. 40.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Mark W. Webb sold 1,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total transaction of $36,530.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,112 shares in the company, valued at $2,848,535.20. This represents a 1.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 6.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J.Jill Stock Performance

J.Jill stock opened at $25.47 on Friday. J.Jill, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $40.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $384.09 million, a P/E ratio of 9.00 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.70.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $155.24 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $155.13 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.70% and a return on equity of 90.61%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that J.Jill, Inc. will post 3.31 EPS for the current year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 18th were given a $0.07 dividend. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 18th. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio is 9.89%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on JILL. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of J.Jill from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of J.Jill from $37.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J.Jill presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.33.

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.