Royal Bank Of Canada Boosts Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Price Target to $114.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank Of Canada raised its price target for Johnson Controls International from $112.00 to $114.00, suggesting a potential upside of 9.44% from the last closing price.
• Several other analysts have also updated their ratings and price targets for Johnson Controls, with Jefferies maintaining a hold rating and a $120.00 target, while Goldman Sachs set a target of $116.00.
• Johnson Controls has announced a $9.00 billion stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Free Report) had its target price increased by Royal Bank Of Canada from $112.00 to $114.00 in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on JCI. Barclays boosted their target price on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Johnson Controls International from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded Johnson Controls International from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $116.00 price target (up previously from $103.00) on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Johnson Controls International presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $105.17.

Johnson Controls International Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:JCI traded up $1.40 on Wednesday, reaching $106.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,703,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,697,895. Johnson Controls International has a 52-week low of $64.31 and a 52-week high of $112.63. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $104.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.06. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $6.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.99 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International declared that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 13.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 23rd. Johnson Controls International's dividend payout ratio is 39.47%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other Johnson Controls International news, VP Anuruddha Rathninde sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.13, for a total transaction of $1,546,950.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 42,574 shares in the company, valued at $4,390,656.62. This represents a 26.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 147,673 shares in the company, valued at $13,426,429.16. This trade represents a 16.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,133 shares of company stock valued at $13,581,520 over the last three months. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,444,686 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,483,104,000 after acquiring an additional 288,576 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 13.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 18,407,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,452,912,000 after acquiring an additional 2,150,573 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,818,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,087,670,000 after acquiring an additional 343,517 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 2.5% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 7,378,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $591,078,000 after acquiring an additional 178,169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,690,781 shares of the company's stock valued at $528,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026,623 shares in the last quarter. 90.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Johnson Controls International

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.