Brokerages Set J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Price Target at $15.50

Shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of brokerages recently commented on JILL. William Blair lowered J.Jill from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. TD Cowen restated 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded J.Jill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $14.00 target price (up from $13.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Thursday, June 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J.Jill

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of JILL. Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in J.Jill in the 4th quarter worth $2,503,000. Royce & Associates LP increased 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 buying an additional 99,390 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of J.Jill in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of J.Jill by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,844 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 3,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in J.Jill in the 4th quarter valued at $232,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

J.Jill Price Performance

Shares of JILL opened at $19.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.09 million, a PE ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.60. J.Jill has a 1-year low of $10.40 and a 1-year high of $19.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $15.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.93.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $144.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.30 million. J.Jill had a return on equity of 24.44% and a net margin of 3.56%. On average, equities research analysts predict that J.Jill will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 24th. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.28%.

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.