Analysts Set J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) Price Target at $23.75

J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $23.75.

JILL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective (up from $16.00) on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of J.Jill from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on shares of J.Jill from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of J.Jill from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Mark W. Webb sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total value of $582,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 121,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,835,341.04. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 55,000 shares of company stock worth $1,207,734 over the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of J.Jill

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fund 1 Investments LLC lifted its position in J.Jill by 96.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,328,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $21,090,000 after acquiring an additional 653,645 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 8.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of J.Jill in the first quarter worth $258,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 8,172 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J.Jill by 12.7% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $357,000 after purchasing an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 40.71% of the company’s stock.

J.Jill Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of JILL opened at $24.48 on Friday. J.Jill has a 1-year low of $10.40 and a 1-year high of $24.69. The company has a market capitalization of $363.71 million, a P/E ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.88.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 9th. The specialty retailer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $154.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.26 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 4.62% and a return on equity of 28.51%. Sell-side analysts forecast that J.Jill will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 23rd. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.11%.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc (NYSE:JILL) is a women’s apparel retailer focused on providing clothing and accessories for women in a range of sizes. The company’s product assortment generally includes casual apparel such as tops, sweaters, dresses, pants, jackets, and outerwear, along with footwear and accessories.

J.Jill serves customers through an omnichannel retail model that combines its branded stores with e-commerce and direct-to-consumer offerings. Its products are designed around comfortable, versatile styling for everyday wear, with the company primarily targeting women seeking relaxed and contemporary apparel.

The company’s retail and digital operations serve customers across the United States.