J.Jill, Inc. $JILL Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its holdings in J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) by 10.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,641,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 190,828 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 11.04% of J.Jill worth $39,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of J.Jill in the third quarter valued at approximately $591,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of J.Jill by 12.7% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 31,129 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 3,499 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in J.Jill by 843.9% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 41,834 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,019,000 after acquiring an additional 37,402 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in J.Jill by 3.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 279,496 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,208,000 after acquiring an additional 8,172 shares during the period. Finally, Fund 1 Investments LLC increased its position in J.Jill by 96.8% during the second quarter. Fund 1 Investments LLC now owns 1,328,949 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,090,000 after acquiring an additional 653,645 shares during the period. 40.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

JILL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Telsey Advisory Group increased their price target on shares of J.Jill from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of J.Jill from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on shares of J.Jill from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price (up from $16.00) on shares of J.Jill in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J.Jill has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.50.

J.Jill Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE JILL traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $22.30. The stock had a trading volume of 154,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 207,331. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.50. 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 company has a market cap of $331.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.86. J.Jill, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.40 and a twelve month high of $25.14.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, September 9th. The specialty retailer reported $1.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.67. J.Jill had a return on equity of 28.51% and a net margin of 4.62%. The firm had revenue of $154.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $151.26 million. As a group, research analysts expect that J.Jill, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

J.Jill Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.09 per share. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 23rd. J.Jill’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.11%.

Insider Transactions at J.Jill

In other news, EVP Mark W. Webb sold 25,000 shares of J.Jill stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.28, for a total transaction of $582,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 121,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,835,341.04. The trade was a 17.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elliot Staples sold 13,287 shares of J.Jill stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.20, for a total transaction of $321,545.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,270 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,458,534. This trade represents a 18.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 73,287 shares of company stock valued at $1,651,880 over the last ninety days. 4.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About J.Jill

J.Jill, Inc. is a women’s apparel retailer focused on comfortable, versatile clothing and accessories. Its merchandise includes apparel, footwear and accessories designed for everyday wear. The company uses an omnichannel model, selling through its retail stores, website and catalogs. J.Jill traces its roots to a New England catalog business established in 1959. J.Jill primarily serves customers in the United States through its stores and digital channels.