Ballentine Partners LLC Takes Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the first quarter worth $364,990,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $157,077,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 21,858.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 680,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,027,000 after purchasing an additional 677,600 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,702,515,000 after purchasing an additional 518,433 shares during the period. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the first quarter worth about $48,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on SJM. StockNews.com lowered J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.25.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $118.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.24. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $105.69 and a one year high of $134.62. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 8.77%. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a boost from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is 60.67%.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total transaction of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

About J. M. Smucker

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.