1,715 Shares in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,715 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 17,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Wallace Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 3,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 15.0% in the 4th quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 3,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 36.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Tarang Amin acquired 1,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $96.09 per share, with a total value of $100,894.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $367,544.25. This trade represents a 37.84% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE SJM opened at $95.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $112.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.71. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $93.93 and a 12 month high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.06. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -37.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on SJM. Wall Street Zen raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $118.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $120.00 to $106.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $119.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $123.00) on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Friday, June 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $115.80.

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.