Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 1.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,379 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of J. M. Smucker worth $5,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 5,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $667,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 14,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,803,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 33,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,659,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,675,871.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SJM has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Finally, Argus reduced 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.25.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SJM opened at $120.74 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.26. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $105.69 and a 12 month high of $134.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. J. M. Smucker’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently 60.67%.

J. M. Smucker 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.