J.Jill, Inc. (JILL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.08 on April 16th

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.08 per share by the specialty retailer on Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This is a 14.3% increase from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.07.

J.Jill has a dividend payout ratio of 8.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J.Jill to earn $3.62 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 8.8%.

J.Jill Stock Down 4.3 %

J.Jill stock opened at $18.66 on Monday. J.Jill has a twelve month low of $17.31 and a twelve month high of $40.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.18 million, a P/E ratio of 6.59 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.03.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.80% and a return on equity of 71.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.33 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that J.Jill will post 3.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at J.Jill

In other news, CEO Claire Spofford sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.57, for a total value of $132,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 132,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,512,686.85. This represents a 3.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.20.

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.