J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

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

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on SJM. Barclays lowered their price target 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 lowered their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.00.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 0.4 %

J. M. Smucker stock opened at $109.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. J. M. Smucker has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $127.15. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 3rd quarter valued at $207,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 381.3% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 7,318 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 315,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,251,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 15,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 2,046 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.