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

Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $126.78.

SJM has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.1 %

SJM stock opened at $103.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27. J. M. Smucker has a 1-year low of $99.81 and a 1-year high of $134.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $110.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.22.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. J. M. Smucker’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 87.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $112,322.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,942. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after buying an additional 762,746 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,169,000 after acquiring an additional 958,142 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,966,000 after purchasing an additional 13,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 703,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,251,000 after purchasing an additional 31,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

About J. M. Smucker

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.