Copeland Capital Management LLC Takes $56,000 Position in J.Jill, Inc. $JILL

Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,849 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $56,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of JILL. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the 1st quarter valued at about $43,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of J.Jill during the 1st quarter valued at about $122,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in J.Jill by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in J.Jill in the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in J.Jill by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 3,205 shares in the last quarter. 40.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JILL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of J.Jill from $22.00 to $20.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

J.Jill Trading Down 2.6%

JILL opened at $16.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.32. J.Jill, Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.36 and a 1-year high of $30.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.82 and a beta of 0.90.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 3rd. The specialty retailer reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $153.99 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $148.02 million. J.Jill had a net margin of 6.12% and a return on equity of 40.48%. Analysts expect that J.Jill, Inc. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 17th. J.Jill’s payout ratio is presently 13.39%.

J.Jill Profile

J.Jill, Inc operates as an omnichannel retailer for women's apparel under the J.Jill brand in the United States. It offers apparel, footwear, and accessories, including scarves and jewelry. The company markets its products through retail stores, website, and catalogs. J.Jill, Inc was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.