Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $5,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the first quarter valued at $364,990,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at $157,077,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21,858.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 518,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the first quarter valued at $48,207,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on SJM. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Bank of America cut 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.25.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM stock opened at $120.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $105.69 and a one year high of $134.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $117.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.26.

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

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change 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 other news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,675,871.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.