Analysts Set J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Price Target at $15.50

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on JILL shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded J.Jill from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. William Blair lowered J.Jill from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded J.Jill from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of J.Jill from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $14.00 price objective (up from $13.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Thursday, June 11th.

J.Jill Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE JILL opened at $15.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. J.Jill has a 12-month low of $10.40 and a 12-month high of $18.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $13.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $236.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.87.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 10th. The specialty retailer reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. J.Jill had a return on equity of 24.44% and a net margin of 3.56%.The company had revenue of $144.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.30 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that J.Jill will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 24th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 24th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. J.Jill’s payout ratio is currently 26.28%.

Institutional Trading of J.Jill

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in JILL. Royce & Associates LP lifted its stake in J.Jill by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,303,493 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,884,000 after purchasing an additional 99,390 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 13.5% in the second quarter. Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY now owns 1,057,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,479,000 after buying an additional 125,838 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 3.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 8,172 shares during the period. Invenomic Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 203,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 3,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 195,379 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the last quarter. 40.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J.Jill Company 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.