J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Friday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on SJM. DA Davidson dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE SJM opened at $116.84 on Friday. J. M. Smucker has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $127.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $107.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.28. The stock has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 17,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Wallace Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.