J.Jill, Inc. $JILL Position Increased by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,303,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,390 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 8.63% of J.Jill worth $17,884,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of J.Jill by 83.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of J.Jill by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of J.Jill by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on JILL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of J.Jill from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Finally, BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of J.Jill from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.25.

J.Jill Stock Up 2.3%

JILL stock opened at $12.70 on Wednesday. J.Jill, Inc. has a 12-month low of $10.40 and a 12-month high of $18.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $189.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.64.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $138.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.55 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 4.68% and a return on equity of 30.77%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that J.Jill, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 14th were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 14th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. J.Jill’s payout ratio is 19.78%.

J.Jill Profile

J.Jill is a women’s apparel retailer specializing in modern, versatile clothing and accessories. The company designs and markets a range of products that emphasize comfort and style, including knitwear, woven tops, pants, dresses, outerwear, jewelry, and footwear. Through its in-house design team, J.Jill focuses on creating seasonal collections that appeal to women seeking effortless, mix-and-match wardrobes.

Products are sold through a multi-channel distribution network comprising company-operated boutiques, e-commerce platforms, and catalog sales.