Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Reduces Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lessened its position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 15.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,508 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,772 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.10% of J. M. Smucker worth $11,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 50,742 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,533,000 after purchasing an additional 2,411 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 65.2% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 4,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,586 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 60.5% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 20,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 7,662 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $813,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 69,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:SJM opened at $103.65 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.22. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $99.81 and a one year high of $134.62. The stock has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. J. M. Smucker’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SJM. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Profile

The J. M. Smucker Company manufactures and markets branded food and beverage products worldwide. It operates in three segments: U.S. Retail Pet Foods, U.S. Retail Coffee, and U.S. Retail Consumer Foods. The company offers mainstream roast, ground, single serve, and premium coffee; peanut butter and specialty spreads; fruit spreads, toppings, and syrups; jelly products; nut mix products; shortening and oils; frozen sandwiches and snacks; pet food and pet snacks; and foodservice hot beverage, foodservice portion control, and flour products, as well as dog and cat food, frozen handheld products, juices and beverages, and baking mixes and ingredients.