Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in J.Jill, Inc. $JILL

Pacific Ridge Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J.Jill, Inc. (NYSE:JILL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 182,469 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,503,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in J.Jill by 83.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of J.Jill in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of J.Jill by 11.7% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 7,908 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new position in shares of J.Jill during the 3rd quarter valued at $201,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in shares of J.Jill by 40.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 11,210 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,205 shares during the period. 40.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on JILL. Zacks Research lowered J.Jill from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research cut their target price on J.Jill from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of J.Jill in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of J.Jill in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.25.

J.Jill Price Performance

Shares of JILL stock opened at $12.40 on Tuesday. J.Jill, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.40 and a 52-week high of $18.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.81 million, a P/E ratio of 6.81 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 1.08.

J.Jill (NYSE:JILL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The specialty retailer reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $138.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $135.55 million. J.Jill had a return on equity of 30.77% and a net margin of 4.68%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that J.Jill, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current year.

J.Jill Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 14th were paid a dividend of $0.09 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 14th. This is a positive change from J.Jill’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. J.Jill’s payout ratio is presently 19.78%.

J.Jill Profile

J.Jill is a women’s apparel retailer specializing in modern, versatile clothing and accessories. The company designs and markets a range of products that emphasize comfort and style, including knitwear, woven tops, pants, dresses, outerwear, jewelry, and footwear. Through its in-house design team, J.Jill focuses on creating seasonal collections that appeal to women seeking effortless, mix-and-match wardrobes.

Products are sold through a multi-channel distribution network comprising company-operated boutiques, e-commerce platforms, and catalog sales.