The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.08 Per Share

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 12th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of 1.08 per share on Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06.

J. M. Smucker has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 27 consecutive years. J. M. Smucker has a payout ratio of 39.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect J. M. Smucker to earn $10.91 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.6%.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $119.73 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.61. J. M. Smucker has a 52 week low of $105.69 and a 52 week high of $147.48. The company has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SJM has been the topic of several research reports. Argus cut their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.64.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total transaction of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.