Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $103.00 to $116.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Johnson Controls International traded as high as $107.09 and last traded at $105.59, with a volume of 6179726 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $105.98.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on JCI. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up from $103.00) on shares of Johnson Controls International in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Oppenheimer cut Johnson Controls International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Johnson Controls International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $112.00 in a report on Monday, May 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.94.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In related news, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total transaction of $2,572,035.88. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 147,673 shares in the company, valued at $13,426,429.16. The trade was a 16.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Nathan D. Manning sold 1,422 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.82, for a total value of $149,054.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 141,860 shares in the company, valued at $14,869,765.20. This trade represents a 0.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 147,555 shares of company stock worth $13,705,106. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JCI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 4th quarter valued at about $560,549,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 1st quarter valued at about $219,110,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,452,912,000 after buying an additional 2,150,573 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Johnson Controls International by 747.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,034,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,186,000 after buying an additional 1,794,089 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International in the 1st quarter valued at about $112,154,000. Institutional investors own 90.05% of the company's stock.

Johnson Controls International Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $99.75 and a 200 day moving average of $87.45. The company has a market cap of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.31.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 10.19%. The company had revenue of $5.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Johnson Controls International plc will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 23rd. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.47%.

Johnson Controls International declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, June 13th that permits the company to buyback $9.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits 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 board believes its shares are undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Company 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.

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