Vertical Research Upgrades Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) to Buy

Vertical Research upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $105.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Johnson Controls International from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Johnson Controls International from $88.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $100.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Melius lowered Johnson Controls International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $95.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Melius Research restated a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 price target on shares of Johnson Controls International in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.94.

Johnson Controls International Stock Performance

Shares of JCI stock opened at $91.96 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $60.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.60. Johnson Controls International has a one year low of $64.31 and a one year high of $92.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $5.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Johnson Controls International had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 15.11%. Johnson Controls International’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Johnson Controls International will post 3.64 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th were given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 24th. Johnson Controls International’s payout ratio is presently 56.49%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other Johnson Controls International news, CEO George Oliver sold 162,894 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.28, for a total transaction of $14,543,176.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,203,893 shares in the company, valued at $107,483,567.04. This represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Marc Vandiepenbeeck sold 28,289 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.92, for a total value of $2,572,035.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 147,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,426,429.16. This represents a 16.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 728,458 shares of company stock valued at $62,293,059. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of JCI. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its position in Johnson Controls International by 74.5% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Johnson Controls International during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Community Bank N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Johnson Controls International during the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.05% of the company’s stock.

About Johnson Controls International

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.