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

Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $121.2143.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $105.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, January 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $124.00 to $113.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 150.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 57,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,299,000 after purchasing an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 13.8% in the third quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,661,000 after buying an additional 188,868 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 28.8% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 54,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,958,000 after buying an additional 12,279 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the third quarter worth about $4,476,000. Finally, Thompson Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the third quarter worth approximately $5,464,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE SJM opened at $95.00 on Friday. J. M. Smucker has a twelve month low of $93.30 and a twelve month high of $120.76. The stock has a market cap of $10.13 billion, a PE ratio of -8.06, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.84.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is presently -37.32%.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.