Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Lifted to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on JCI. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group cut shares of Johnson Controls International from a buy rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $67.69.

Johnson Controls International Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE JCI opened at $65.71 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market cap of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Johnson Controls International has a 12-month low of $47.90 and a 12-month high of $75.36.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.53 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of Johnson Controls International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total transaction of $77,033.67. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 104,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,901,741.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.01, for a total transaction of $77,033.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 104,556 shares in the company, valued at $6,901,741.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $611,901.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,662,259. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,048 shares of company stock valued at $796,710. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JCI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Johnson Controls International by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after acquiring an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $923,804,000 after buying an additional 6,520,580 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Johnson Controls International by 95.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $833,491,000 after buying an additional 6,247,250 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $316,400,000. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP acquired a new position in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $124,553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

Johnson Controls International Company Profile

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.