Natixis Advisors LLC Purchases 278,777 Shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) by 138.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 479,452 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 278,777 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jacobs Solutions were worth $64,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of J. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Jacobs Solutions by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,145,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $410,444,000 after buying an additional 73,566 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 29.2% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,988,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,649,000 after acquiring an additional 449,161 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 3.2% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,040,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,263,000 after purchasing an additional 32,650 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Jacobs Solutions by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 896,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,724,000 after purchasing an additional 78,284 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Jacobs Solutions by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 777,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,941,000 after purchasing an additional 17,372 shares in the last quarter. 85.65% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on J. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Benchmark cut shares of Jacobs Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jacobs Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $153.63.

Jacobs Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE J opened at $122.50 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $131.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.67. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $110.95 and a fifty-two week high of $150.54. The company has a market cap of $15.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. Jacobs Solutions had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is a boost from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date 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 is currently 26.39%.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Jacobs Solutions

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.