Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $1.49 Million Stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,546 shares of the company’s stock after selling 316 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $269,000. Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 4,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,329.4% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE:SJM opened at $114.17 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $12.15 billion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.50 and its 200 day moving average is $112.73. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $127.59.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 3.78%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their target price on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.