Jabil (NYSE:JBL) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $165.05 and last traded at $166.36, with a volume of 3750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America raised their target price on Jabil from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.17.

Jabil Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $124.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.23.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business’s revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Jabil Inc. will post 8.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total transaction of $599,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,744,490.32. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total value of $3,026,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 119,108 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,021,040.40. The trade was a 14.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,038 shares of company stock worth $5,579,666. 1.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jabil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Jabil by 6.0% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,589 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Jabil by 2.9% in the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Jabil by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Jabil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Jabil by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 466 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

About Jabil

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).