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

Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) shares gapped down prior to trading 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 trading hands.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on JACK. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Jack in the Box from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Jack in the Box from $60.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Jack in the Box in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They set a “sell” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on 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. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jack in the Box presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.63.

Insider Activity at Jack in the Box

In other Jack in the Box news, CFO Brian M. Scott sold 696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.66, for a total value of $33,867.36. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,360.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JACK. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 626,955 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $31,937,000 after purchasing an additional 130,214 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $28,408,000 after buying an additional 403,423 shares during the last quarter. Clearline Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $12,757,000 after buying an additional 144,631 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Jack in the Box by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 245,491 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $12,505,000 after acquiring an additional 18,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in Jack in the Box by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 240,784 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $12,266,000 after acquiring an additional 22,226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Jack in the Box Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $875.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.95, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.94. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.89.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The restaurant operator reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Jack in the Box Inc. will post 6.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Jack in the Box’s payout ratio is currently 30.99%.

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.