Joseph Group Capital Management Raises Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Joseph Group Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 14.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,729 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,963 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $2,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SJM. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $116.13 on Friday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.20.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.