The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.78.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SJM. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,942. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 17,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.0% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of SJM stock opened at $107.37 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.54. J. M. Smucker has a 12-month low of $98.77 and a 12-month high of $127.59.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio 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.