Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) Short Interest Up 18.6% in March

Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,210,000 shares, a growth of 18.6% from the March 15th total of 3,550,000 shares. Currently, 5.6% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 853,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Jackson Financial from $39.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Jackson Financial from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Jackson Financial in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Jackson Financial from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Jackson Financial from $55.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jackson Financial

In other Jackson Financial news, Director Derek G. Kirkland acquired 3,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $55.67 per share, with a total value of $194,845.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 37,726 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,100,206.42. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jackson Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Jackson Financial by 45,699.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,241,261 shares of the company's stock worth $124,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,234,184 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Jackson Financial by 2,218.3% during the first quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 1,759,620 shares of the company's stock worth $77,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,683,720 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Jackson Financial by 16.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,933,228 shares of the company's stock valued at $417,868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,518,547 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Jackson Financial by 38.2% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,939,256 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Jackson Financial by 88.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,238,285 shares of the company's stock worth $59,874,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,563 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.96% of the company's stock.

Jackson Financial Stock Performance

Shares of JXN traded down $1.99 on Friday, reaching $63.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 673,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 857,914. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $58.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.33 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 1.57. Jackson Financial has a 12-month low of $26.70 and a 12-month high of $68.97.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported $2.53 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $3.53 by ($1.00). The company had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.66 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Jackson Financial will post 15.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jackson Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.70 dividend. This is a positive change from Jackson Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. Jackson Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.54%.

Jackson Financial Company Profile

Jackson Financial Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions.