J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Raised 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 report published on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM opened at $116.13 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.21 and a 200-day moving average of $112.25. 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 has a 1-year low of $98.77 and a 1-year high of $125.75.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Equities analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. 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 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,544,000 after buying an additional 130,533 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,145,000 after acquiring an additional 762,746 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,664,000 after acquiring an additional 58,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,942,000 after purchasing an additional 418,878 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.