Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Purchases 524 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,825 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1,329.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 212.6% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 322 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $107.84 on Friday. 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 J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $99.81 and a one year high of $134.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $110.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.28.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.01%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently 87.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.78.

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.