The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $115.80.

Several research analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. Barclays dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $119.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Citigroup dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $128.00 to $118.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $115.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 11th.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, Director Tarang Amin bought 1,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $96.09 per share, for a total transaction of $100,894.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,825 shares in the company, valued at $367,544.25. This trade represents a 37.84% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SJM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,978,000. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,346,000 after acquiring an additional 904,278 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,125,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 76.7% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,078,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,808,000 after acquiring an additional 468,200 shares during the period. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 925,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after acquiring an additional 432,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:SJM opened at $95.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. J. M. Smucker has a 1-year low of $93.30 and a 1-year high of $125.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.29, a PEG ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 0.35.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.25 by $0.06. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.20% and a negative net margin of 14.10%. The company had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.66 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is -37.37%.

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.