The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $127.25.

SJM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus cut their price target on J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SJM. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 71.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 163,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,620,000 after buying an additional 68,160 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 23,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 17,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after purchasing an additional 711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $1,322,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE SJM opened at $118.74 on Friday. J. M. Smucker has a 52-week low of $105.69 and a 52-week high of $144.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $116.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.45.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.27. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.84 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.67%.

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.