J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.00.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 2.5 %

SJM stock opened at $114.17 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. J. M. Smucker has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $127.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $106.50 and a 200-day moving average of $112.73.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 9,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $4,605,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $12,466,000. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 31,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,467,000 after buying an additional 4,514 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J. M. Smucker Company 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.