Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $153.86.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jacobs Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 345.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 4,637,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $619,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,597,564 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Jacobs Solutions by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,155,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,626,000 after buying an additional 10,174 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 933.6% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,109,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,808,000 after buying an additional 1,904,988 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Jacobs Solutions by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 1,988,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,649,000 after purchasing an additional 449,161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,809,207 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,746,000 after purchasing an additional 157,086 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.65% of the company’s stock.

Jacobs Solutions Stock Down 5.9 %

J stock opened at $111.47 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $127.24 and its 200 day moving average is $135.14. Jacobs Solutions has a 1-year low of $110.90 and a 1-year high of $156.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market cap of $13.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.32 per share. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. This is an increase from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Jacobs Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 26.39%.

Jacobs Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 4th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign 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.