John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

John Bean Technologies Co. (NYSE:JBT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $128.60 and last traded at $128.17, with a volume of 320396 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $124.78.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on JBT. CJS Securities began coverage on shares of John Bean Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of John Bean Technologies in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company.

John Bean Technologies Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.55 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

John Bean Technologies (NYSE:JBT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The industrial products company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. John Bean Technologies had a net margin of 10.25% and a return on equity of 10.16%. The company had revenue of $453.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $442.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 12.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that John Bean Technologies Co. will post 5.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

John Bean Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. John Bean Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Bean Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in John Bean Technologies by 1.7% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 8,900 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $845,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. grew its position in shares of John Bean Technologies by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 3,537 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC raised its stake in John Bean Technologies by 6.4% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 3,648 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in John Bean Technologies by 31.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,014 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in John Bean Technologies by 13.2% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,976 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. 98.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About John Bean Technologies

John Bean Technologies Corporation provides technology solutions to food and beverage industry in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America. It offers value-added processing that includes chilling, mixing/grinding, injecting, blending, marinating, tumbling, flattening, forming, portioning, coating, cooking, frying, freezing, extracting, pasteurizing, sterilizing, concentrating, high pressure processing, weighing, inspecting, filling, closing, sealing, end of line material handling, and packaging solutions to the food, beverage, and health market.