The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Short Interest Update

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,240,000 shares, an increase of 24.3% from the October 31st total of 3,410,000 shares. Currently, 4.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,070,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SJM. BNP Paribas upgraded J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price target on J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,145,000 after buying an additional 762,746 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,169,000 after buying an additional 958,142 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,783,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,435,000 after purchasing an additional 135,158 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,526,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,403,000 after purchasing an additional 192,075 shares during the period. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 56.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,354,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,749,000 after buying an additional 486,624 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:SJM traded up $1.82 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $119.61. 1,363,757 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,179,396. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $105.69 and a fifty-two week high of $134.62. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.79, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.26.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.87 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is 87.45%.

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.