Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 13,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,502,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 188.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE SJM opened at $109.78 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.42. The company has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G 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. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $127.15.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SJM shares. DA Davidson cut their price objective on 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. Barclays cut their price objective 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 J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.00.

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.