J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $111.76 on Monday. J. M. Smucker has a 12-month low of $98.77 and a 12-month high of $127.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $107.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. On average, research analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.