Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,660,000 shares, an increase of 52.9% from the January 31st total of 1,740,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 819,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

J has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jacobs Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.89.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 55.7% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 14,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after buying an additional 5,332 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 9,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after buying an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,778,000 after buying an additional 47,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Jacobs Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Jacobs Solutions Trading Down 1.8 %

Jacobs Solutions stock opened at $122.94 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Jacobs Solutions has a 12 month low of $110.95 and a 12 month high of $150.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $133.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.06. The firm has a market cap of $15.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.72.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Jacobs Solutions had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 4.28%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Jacobs Solutions will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a positive change from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Jacobs Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.39%.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.