Empowered Funds LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 381.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,237 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,318 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the 1st quarter worth approximately $428,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the first quarter valued at $554,000. BOKF NA increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 20.7% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 8,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 0.9% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 145,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 1st quarter valued at about $397,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of SJM opened at $113.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio 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 50 day simple moving average of $116.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.52.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 61.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SJM. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four 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 $127.09.

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.