The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 13,034 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Probity Advisors Inc. increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 1.1% during the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 8,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 0.5% during the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 19,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,158,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 0.3% during the second quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,659,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 3.5% during the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 11.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SJM has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.55.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 1.7 %

SJM opened at $118.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $116.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.60. 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 12-month low of $105.69 and a 12-month high of $134.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.45%.

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.