J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) Shares Up 3.6% – Here’s What Happened

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL)’s share price was up 3.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $16.71 and last traded at $16.4410. 85,802 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 9% from the average daily volume of 79,075 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on JILL. William Blair downgraded J.Jill from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Zacks Research upgraded J.Jill from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Weiss Ratings raised J.Jill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 target price on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $14.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.50.

J.Jill Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $247.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 10th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. J.Jill had a return on equity of 24.44% and a net margin of 3.56%.The company had revenue of $144.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.30 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that J.Jill, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 24th. J.Jill’s payout ratio is presently 26.28%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in J.Jill by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,303,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,884,000 after purchasing an additional 99,390 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 13.5% in the second quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 1,057,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,479,000 after buying an additional 125,838 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 8,172 shares in the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP boosted its position in J.Jill by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 203,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in J.Jill by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 195,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the last quarter. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About J.Jill

J.Jill is a women’s apparel retailer specializing in modern, versatile clothing and accessories. The company designs and markets a range of products that emphasize comfort and style, including knitwear, woven tops, pants, dresses, outerwear, jewelry, and footwear. Through its in-house design team, J.Jill focuses on creating seasonal collections that appeal to women seeking effortless, mix-and-match wardrobes.

Products are sold through a multi-channel distribution network comprising company-operated boutiques, e-commerce platforms, and catalog sales.