J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on SJM. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.5 %

SJM opened at $116.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. J. M. Smucker has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $125.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. Sell-side analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,978,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,169,000 after purchasing an additional 958,142 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,346,000 after purchasing an additional 904,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after purchasing an additional 762,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 76.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,078,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,808,000 after buying an additional 468,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.