Navellier & Associates Inc. Invests $194,000 in Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI)

Key Points

• Navellier & Associates Inc. has acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International, purchasing 2,424 shares valued at approximately $194,000 in the first quarter, as reported in their 13F filing.
• Johnson Controls International's stock has a current market capitalization of $73.60 billion and reported an earnings per share of $0.82 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates.
• The company recently initiated a $9.00 billion stock buyback program, allowing it to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares, signaling management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Navellier & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $194,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of JCI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at $222,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Johnson Controls International by 67.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 88,569 shares of the company's stock worth $6,991,000 after purchasing an additional 35,655 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,834,721 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,745,000 after purchasing an additional 63,762 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in shares of Johnson Controls International by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,655 shares of the company's stock valued at $841,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,549,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JCI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (up from $94.00) on shares of Johnson Controls International in a report on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $103.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $105.06.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JCI traded up $0.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $104.03. 1,488,356 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,660,559. Johnson Controls International plc has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $112.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.37 and a 200-day moving average of $90.39.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.99 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 10.19%. Analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.47%.

Johnson Controls International announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that authorizes the company to buyback $9.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 13.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total value of $2,572,035.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 147,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,426,429.16. The trade was a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director George Oliver sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.70, for a total value of $9,170,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 904,305 shares in the company, valued at $82,924,768.50. The trade was a 9.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,705,106 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company's stock.

Johnson Controls International Profile

Johnson Controls International plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in engineering, manufacturing, commissioning, and retrofitting building products and systems in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Building Solutions North America, Building Solutions EMEA/LA, Building Solutions Asia Pacific, and Global Products.