Ireland-based Johnson Controls International plc (JCI) engineers, manufactures, commissions, and retrofits building products and systems. With a market cap of $47.3 billion, Johnson Controls operations span the U.S., Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally.
Johnson Controls shares have substantially underperformed the broader market over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks, JCI stock rose 5.1% compared to the S&P 500 Index’s ($SPX) 15.1% returns. However, in 2024, JCI has gained 14.1%, outpacing SPX’s 9% gain on a YTD basis.
Zooming in further, JCI has also underperformed the S&P Homebuilders SPDR’s (XHB) 24.5% returns over the past 52 weeks but outperformed the XHB’s 10.4% gains on a YTD basis.
JCI stock rose 3.6% after its Q3 earnings release on Jul. 31. Despite the company's revenue growing 1.4% annually to $7.2 billion, it missed Wall Street's estimates, although adjusted EPS rose 10.7% to $1.14 and surpassed the estimates by 5.6%. Moreover, the company announced an improved EBITA margin guidance for the full year. Nevertheless, over the following three trading sessions, shares of Johnson Controls dipped nearly 8.4%.
For the current fiscal year, ending in September, analysts expect Johnson Controls to report an EPS of $3.67, up 4.9% year over year. The company’s earnings surprise history is mixed. It beat the consensus estimate in three of the past four quarters while missing the forecasts on one other occasion.
Among the 19 analysts covering the JCI stock, the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy.” That’s based on eight “Strong Buy” ratings, 10 “Holds,” and one “Strong Sell.”
This configuration has been consistent over the past months.
On Aug. 2, Goldman Sachs (GS) analyst Joe Ritchie maintained a “Buy” rating on JCI stock and raised the price target from $73 to $81.
JCI’s mean price target of $72.47 represents a premium of 10.2% to current price levels. The street-high target of $85 indicates a potential upside of 29.3% from current price levels.
On the date of publication, Aditya Sarawgi did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.