Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Boosts Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,501 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,990 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. owned 0.08% of J. M. Smucker worth $9,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 324,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,721,000 after purchasing an additional 11,339 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $1,273,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 336.3% during the fourth quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,982 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SJM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their target price 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE SJM opened at $111.76 on Tuesday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $98.77 and a 52 week high of $127.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $11.89 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were 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 owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

J. M. Smucker Company 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.