The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.06

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 18th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of 1.06 per share on Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%.

J. M. Smucker has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 26 consecutive years. J. M. Smucker has a dividend payout ratio of 39.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect J. M. Smucker to earn $10.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.6%.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.2 %

SJM stock opened at $111.10 on Friday. J. M. Smucker has a 1-year low of $107.33 and a 1-year high of $159.92. The stock has a market cap of $11.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -126.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company’s 50 day moving average is $121.34 and its 200 day moving average is $120.70.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 1.24% and a positive return on equity of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that J. M. Smucker will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SJM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total transaction of $399,264.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,192.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SJM. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,515,000 after purchasing an additional 518,433 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,284,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,727,000 after buying an additional 31,412 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 85,116.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,102,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,099,830 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,820,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,525,000 after acquiring an additional 139,158 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,531,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,733,000 after acquiring an additional 197,519 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.