Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) Short Interest Update

Johnson Controls International plc (NYSE:JCI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,510,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the September 15th total of 9,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JCI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $73.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Johnson Controls International from an “underperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Johnson Controls International from $72.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Johnson Controls International from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.50.

Johnson Controls International Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of JCI stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,546,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,043,370. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.29. Johnson Controls International has a one year low of $47.90 and a one year high of $78.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 6.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Johnson Controls International will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 25th will be paid a $0.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 25th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Johnson Controls International news, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.79, for a total transaction of $8,494,125.85. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,507,639.29. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.75, for a total value of $84,899.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 143,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,438,752. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO George Oliver sold 110,615 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.79, for a total value of $8,494,125.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,243,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $95,507,639.29. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 227,494 shares of company stock worth $16,997,782. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Johnson Controls International

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&G Plc bought a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the first quarter valued at $120,948,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 470.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 157,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,319,000 after acquiring an additional 130,308 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 3.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 398,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,009,000 after acquiring an additional 13,373 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Johnson Controls International by 0.9% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,129,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,774,000 after acquiring an additional 10,146 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC bought a new position in Johnson Controls International in the first quarter valued at about $864,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.