J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on JILL. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of J.Jill from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research lowered shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of J.Jill from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.00.

J.Jill Trading Down 2.9%

JILL opened at $16.14 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $245.81 million, a PE ratio of 6.75 and a beta of 0.90. J.Jill has a twelve month low of $13.36 and a twelve month high of $30.40.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, January 8th. The specialty retailer reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $150.20 million for the quarter. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 40.48%. Equities research analysts anticipate that J.Jill will post 3.36 EPS for the current year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.39%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of J.Jill by 22.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 96,406 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 17,966 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the 1st quarter worth about $1,313,000. CenterBook Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 270,921 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,291,000 after buying an additional 36,255 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 1,750 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 107,650 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

J.Jill Company Profile

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.