Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on JCI. UBS Group cut Johnson Controls International from a buy rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Monday, May 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Johnson Controls International from $54.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Johnson Controls International currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $67.69.

Johnson Controls International Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE JCI opened at $65.71 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $69.08 and a 200-day moving average of $64.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Johnson Controls International has a 52 week low of $47.90 and a 52 week high of $75.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.96.

Johnson Controls International (NYSE:JCI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.06. Johnson Controls International had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 6.02%. The company had revenue of $7.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Johnson Controls International will post 3.67 EPS for the current year.

Johnson Controls International Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 24th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 24th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Johnson Controls International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.92%.

Insider Transactions at Johnson Controls International

In other news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $611,901.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,259. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Daniel C. Mcconeghy sold 9,342 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.50, for a total transaction of $611,901.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,662,259. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Nathan D. Manning sold 1,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.71, for a total value of $82,518.57. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 103,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,344,364.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 12,048 shares of company stock valued at $796,710 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Johnson Controls International by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,387,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,756,000 after buying an additional 10,522,009 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Johnson Controls International by 85.5% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 14,142,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,804,000 after buying an additional 6,520,580 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Johnson Controls International by 95.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,760,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,491,000 after buying an additional 6,247,250 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $316,400,000. Finally, Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new stake in Johnson Controls International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $124,553,000. 90.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.