John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,300,000 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the April 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 223,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Bean Technologies

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,060 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of John Bean Technologies by 162.1% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 249 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 2,249 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its position in shares of John Bean Technologies by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 3,515 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of John Bean Technologies by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. 98.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

John Bean Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE JBT traded up $0.87 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $95.85. The company had a trading volume of 313,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 223,788. The firm's 50 day moving average is $96.29 and its 200 day moving average is $99.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.83. John Bean Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $88.03 and a fifty-two week high of $125.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 1.29.

John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $392.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $396.55 million. John Bean Technologies had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 36.12%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that John Bean Technologies will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John Bean Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 22nd. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. John Bean Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of John Bean Technologies in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. William Blair reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of John Bean Technologies in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, John Bean Technologies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $121.00.

John Bean Technologies Company Profile

John Bean Technologies Corporation provides technology solutions to food and beverage industry in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers value-added processing that includes chilling, mixing/grinding, injecting, blending, marinating, tumbling, flattening, forming, portioning, coating, cooking, frying, freezing, extracting, pasteurizing, sterilizing, concentrating, high pressure processing, weighing, inspecting, filling, closing, sealing, end of line material handling, and packaging solutions to the food, beverage, and health market.