Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) saw a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,280,000 shares, a drop of 15.6% from the March 15th total of 2,700,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 675,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jack Henry & Associates

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of JKHY. Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 3,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in shares of Jack Henry & Associates by 9.8% during the first quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 838 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $153,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Jack Henry & Associates by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Torray Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,446 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV boosted its position in Jack Henry & Associates by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Smith Shellnut Wilson LLC ADV now owns 7,062 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,238,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Jack Henry & Associates by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,285 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Jack Henry & Associates Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ JKHY traded down $1.26 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $170.57. 26,183 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 536,292. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Jack Henry & Associates has a 1-year low of $157.00 and a 1-year high of $196.00. The stock has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.05.

Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.03). Jack Henry & Associates had a return on equity of 21.55% and a net margin of 17.83%. On average, analysts expect that Jack Henry & Associates will post 5.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jack Henry & Associates Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is an increase from Jack Henry & Associates’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Jack Henry & Associates’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Jack Henry & Associates in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Jack Henry & Associates from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $183.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Northcoast Research cut Jack Henry & Associates from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jack Henry & Associates has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.45.

About Jack Henry & Associates

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc is a financial technology company, which engages in the provision of technology solutions and payment processing services. It operates through the following segments: Core, Payments, Complementary, and Corporate and Other. The Core segment provides core information processing platforms to banks and credit unions which consist of integrated applications required to process deposit, loan, and general ledger transactions, and maintain centralized customer and member information.