J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $9.84.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in JCP. Saba Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of J C Penney Company during the third quarter valued at about $13,143,000. Boston Advisors raised its position in J C Penney Company by 396.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Advisors now owns 831,270 shares of the department store operator’s stock valued at $5,536,000 after buying an additional 663,800 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services raised its position in J C Penney Company by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services now owns 104,654 shares of the department store operator’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Alpha Windward raised its position in J C Penney Company by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Alpha Windward now owns 60,689 shares of the department store operator’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 7,469 shares during the period. Finally, IMS Capital Management increased its stake in shares of J C Penney Company by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. IMS Capital Management now owns 41,761 shares of the department store operator’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 800 shares in the last quarter.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on JCP shares. Vetr raised shares of J C Penney Company from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $10.71 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 14th. Buckingham Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of J C Penney Company in a research note on Friday, November 20th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of J C Penney Company in a research note on Friday, January 8th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of J C Penney Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised shares of J C Penney Company from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 5th.

J C Penney Company (NYSE:JCP) opened at 6.82 on Tuesday. The stock’s market cap is $2.09 billion. J C Penney Company has a 1-year low of $6.00 and a 1-year high of $10.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $6.95 and a 200 day moving average of $8.37.

J C Penney Company (NYSE:JCP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 13th. The department store operator reported ($0.47) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.55) by $0.08. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.77) EPS. The firm earned $2.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.88 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that J C Penney Company will post ($1.20) earnings per share for the current year.

J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE:JCP) is a holding company. The Company’s operating subsidiary is J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc. (JCP). The Company’s business consists of selling merchandise and services to consumers through its department stores and Website at jcpenney.com, which utilizes applications for desktop, mobile and tablet devices. The Company’s online customer purchases by direct shipment to the customer from its distribution facilities and stores or from its suppliers’ warehouses and by in store customer pick up. The Company sells family apparel and footwear, accessories, fine and fashion jewelry, beauty products through Sephora inside JCPenney and home furnishings. The Company’s department stores provide its customers with services, such as styling salon, optical, portrait photography and custom decorating.

12 Month Chart for NYSE:JCP

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