Short Interest in Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) Increases By 15.7%

Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, a growth of 15.7% from the May 31st total of 3,310,000 shares. Currently, 5.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 651,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Jackson Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JXN opened at $75.48 on Wednesday. Jackson Financial has a one year low of $29.28 and a one year high of $81.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $4.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Jackson Financial will post 16.98 EPS for the current year.

Jackson Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Jackson Financial’s payout ratio is 7.40%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Devkumar Dilip Ganguly sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $983,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 93,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,067,956.35. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Don W. Cummings purchased 1,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $72.70 per share, for a total transaction of $105,051.50. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 45,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,189.70. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Devkumar Dilip Ganguly sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $983,710.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 93,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,067,956.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jackson Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $2,270,000. Advisors Preferred LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jackson Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $1,680,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky acquired a new stake in shares of Jackson Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $871,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Jackson Financial by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,738,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,021,000 after purchasing an additional 111,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $621,000. 89.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JXN shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Jackson Financial from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Jackson Financial from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of Jackson Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Jackson Financial from $52.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.00.

Jackson Financial Company Profile

Jackson Financial Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions.