J.Jill, Inc. (JILL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 on April 16th

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.08 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a 14.3% increase from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07.

J.Jill has a dividend payout ratio of 7.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.Jill to earn $3.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.7%.

J.Jill Stock Performance

J.Jill stock opened at $18.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $24.37 and a 200-day moving average of $25.40. The firm has a market cap of $277.44 million, a P/E ratio of 6.39 and a beta of 0.55. J.Jill has a 1-year low of $17.82 and a 1-year high of $40.61.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $94.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.33 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 71.30%. Sell-side analysts expect that J.Jill will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $31.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J.Jill news, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.57, for a total transaction of $132,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 132,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,512,686.85. This trade represents a 3.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About J.Jill

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.