First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires 824 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,855 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 824 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $590,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 9.8% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 56.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 73,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,978,000 after acquiring an additional 26,486 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 54.5% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 81,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,813,000 after acquiring an additional 28,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.9% in the third quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 16,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,057,000 after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total value of $399,264.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,192.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $132.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.47.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $113.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $118.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.71. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $107.33 and a one year high of $159.45.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 1.24% and a positive return on equity of 14.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is presently -481.81%.

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.