J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $116.13 on Friday. J. M. Smucker has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $125.75. 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 firm has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $112.17.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SJM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $35,721,000 after acquiring an additional 11,339 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position 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 worth $150,082,000 after purchasing an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth $1,273,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew 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 worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,982 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,169,000 after purchasing an additional 958,142 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

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.