Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 9,531 Shares of Jabil, Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Jabil, Inc. by 63.2%, owning 24,610 shares valued at approximately $3.35 million after buying an additional 9,531 shares in the first quarter.
• Jabil reported a Q2 EPS of $2.55, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.28, along with a revenue of $7.83 billion that surpassed the expected $7.03 billion.
• JPMorgan Chase recently raised its price target on Jabil shares from $214 to $256, indicating strong confidence in the company's growth potential.

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in shares of Jabil, Inc. (NYSE:JBL - Free Report) by 63.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 24,610 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 9,531 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Jabil were worth $3,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Jabil by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 40,748 shares of the technology company's stock worth $5,864,000 after purchasing an additional 7,747 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Jabil during the fourth quarter worth about $2,074,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Jabil by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,780 shares of the technology company's stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in Jabil by 92.9% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 130,424 shares of the technology company's stock worth $18,768,000 after purchasing an additional 62,795 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Jabil during the fourth quarter worth about $4,710,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.39% of the company's stock.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JBL traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $224.52. 1,315,372 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,228,329. The company has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.60, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.98. Jabil, Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.67 and a twelve month high of $232.84.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The technology company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.28 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.03 billion. Jabil had a net margin of 2.02% and a return on equity of 60.19%. Jabil's revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Jabil, Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on JBL shares. Argus upgraded shares of Jabil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Jabil from $206.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Jabil in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $245.00 price target for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $230.00 price objective (up previously from $170.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $231.71.

Insider Activity

In other Jabil news, Director Anousheh Ansari sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.75, for a total transaction of $222,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 36,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,108,100. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrew Priestley sold 3,702 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $832,950.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 44,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,087,425. This trade represents a 7.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 342,847 shares of company stock worth $68,233,847. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Jabil Company Profile

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).