Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Downgraded to “Market Perform” Rating by Oppenheimer

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) was downgraded by research analysts at Oppenheimer from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note issued on Friday,Finviz reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 target price (up from $103.00) on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $101.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Vertical Research raised shares of Johnson Controls International from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.88.

Johnson Controls International Price Performance

NYSE JCI opened at $103.42 on Friday. Johnson Controls International has a 52 week low of $64.31 and a 52 week high of $105.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $68.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $92.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $85.42.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 10.19% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Johnson Controls International news, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total value of $2,572,035.88. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,426,429.16. This represents a 16.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.91, for a total transaction of $123,586.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 144,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,576,224.64. This represents a 0.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,669,414 over the last 90 days. 0.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 425.0% during the 1st quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 315 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 74.5% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 56.4% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 369 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson Controls International

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.