Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK – Get Rating) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the restaurant operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on JACK. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Jack in the Box from $73.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Jack in the Box from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Jack in the Box from $82.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Truist Financial raised their target price on Jack in the Box from $92.00 to $98.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Cowen raised their target price on Jack in the Box from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $87.56.

Jack in the Box Trading Up 0.3 %

Jack in the Box stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.01. 615,571 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 400,714. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.65. Jack in the Box has a 12-month low of $54.80 and a 12-month high of $94.68. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.62.

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ:JACK – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 1st. The restaurant operator reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.25. Jack in the Box had a negative return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 7.86%. The company had revenue of $527.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $506.98 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.97 EPS. Jack in the Box’s revenue for the quarter was up 52.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jack in the Box will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack in the Box Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Jack in the Box’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jack in the Box

In other Jack in the Box news, CEO Darin S. Harris sold 2,034 shares of Jack in the Box stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $136,400.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 33,486 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,245,571.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Jack in the Box news, CMO Ryan Lee Ostrom sold 326 shares of Jack in the Box stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.89, for a total value of $26,044.14. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 10,536 shares in the company, valued at approximately $841,721.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Darin S. Harris sold 2,034 shares of Jack in the Box stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.06, for a total value of $136,400.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 33,486 shares in the company, valued at $2,245,571.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,907 shares of company stock worth $440,935. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Jack in the Box

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JACK. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,129,000. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 30.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 28,563 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after buying an additional 6,622 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new stake in shares of Jack in the Box in the first quarter valued at approximately $599,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 153.2% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 18,192 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,699,000 after buying an additional 11,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jack in the Box by 36.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,284,343 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $306,789,000 after buying an additional 874,419 shares in the last quarter. 99.78% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Jack in the Box

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Jack in the Box, Inc engages in operating and franchising a chain of quick-service and fast-casual restaurants. It operates through the Jack in the Box Restaurant segments. The Jack in the Box Restaurant segment offers a broad selection of distinctive products including burgers like Jumbo Jack burgers, and product lines such as Buttery Jack burgers including the Brunchfast menu.