StockNews.com Downgrades J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target 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. TD Cowen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.00.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.8 %

SJM stock opened at $109.27 on Thursday. J. M. Smucker has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $127.15. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.12, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SJM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,978,000. FMR LLC raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,346,000 after buying an additional 904,278 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,145,000 after acquiring an additional 762,746 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,078,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,808,000 after acquiring an additional 468,200 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.