Smith Moore & CO. Cuts Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Smith Moore & CO. lowered its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 185 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $112,978,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 762,746 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,988,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 49.3% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 628,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,250,000 after buying an additional 207,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,082,000 after buying an additional 192,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In related news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on SJM. Barclays decreased 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 research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 2.8 %

Shares of SJM stock opened at $115.03 on Friday. 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 J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $125.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.14.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.76%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

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.