Entropy Technologies LP Makes New $796,000 Investment in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,573 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6,703.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 159,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,433,000 after purchasing an additional 157,523 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 9,250 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 14.1% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 127,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,915,000 after buying an additional 15,792 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 25.7% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 56,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,151,000 after buying an additional 11,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 553.9% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 8,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after buying an additional 7,517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $110.74 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.61. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.25. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1 year low of $105.69 and a 1 year high of $134.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.55.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.27. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 8.77%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently 61.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.09.

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.