The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $126.50.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SJM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 324,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,721,000 after acquiring an additional 11,339 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,082,000 after purchasing an additional 192,748 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth $1,273,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 336.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,982 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 271,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,875,000 after buying an additional 16,963 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM opened at $113.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.09 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.52. J. M. Smucker has a 1 year low of $98.77 and a 1 year high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is -179.25%.

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.