Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Jackson Financial Inc. (NYSE:JXN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,830,000 shares, an increase of 15.7% from the May 31st total of 3,310,000 shares. Approximately 5.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 651,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JXN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Jackson Financial from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Jackson Financial from $52.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Jackson Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE JXN opened at $75.48 on Wednesday. Jackson Financial has a fifty-two week low of $29.28 and a fifty-two week high of $81.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $62.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.32.

Jackson Financial (NYSE:JXN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.67 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Jackson Financial will post 16.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jackson Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were issued a dividend of $0.70 per share. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. Jackson Financial’s payout ratio is 7.40%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Don W. Cummings acquired 1,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.70 per share, with a total value of $105,051.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 45,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,189.70. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Don W. Cummings acquired 1,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $72.70 per share, with a total value of $105,051.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 45,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,189.70. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Devkumar Dilip Ganguly sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total transaction of $983,710.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 93,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,067,956.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jackson Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Jackson Financial by 400.0% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 395 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Jackson Financial by 47.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 482 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in Jackson Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $57,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.96% of the company’s stock.

About Jackson Financial

Jackson Financial Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides suite of annuities to retail investors in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Retail Annuities, Institutional Products, and Closed Life and Annuity Blocks. The Retail Annuities segment offers various retirement income and savings products, including variable, fixed index, fixed, and payout annuities, as well as registered index-linked annuities and lifetime income solutions.