What Happened?

Shares of real estate firm JLL (NYSE:JLL) jumped 8.4% in the afternoon session after a Wolfe analyst upgraded the stock's rating from Peer Perform (Hold) to Outperform (Buy). The analyst added, "JLL benefits from capital markets comps, improved disclosure supports multiple expansion, while sector tailwinds from potential deregulation and tax reform may accelerate earnings growth.".

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What The Market Is Telling Us

JLL’s shares are not very volatile and have only had 8 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful, although it might not be something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business. 

The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 7 months ago when the stock gained 5.7% on the news that the company reported first-quarter results that blew past analysts' revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and EPS expectations. Despite the high-interest rate environment weighing heavily on the decisions of some of its clients, JLL delivered broad-based growth with sales outperforming expectations across all key operating segments (Market Advisory, Capital Markets, and Work Dynamics). Likewise, profitability ratios benefited from higher sales and cost-reduction efforts initiated over the previous twelve months. Zooming out, we think this was a solid quarter.

JLL is up 52.6% since the beginning of the year, and at $285.16 per share, has set a new 52-week high. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of JLL’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $1,697.

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