J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Raised to “Hold” 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 Tuesday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Argus cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $132.64.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE SJM opened at $116.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.25. J. M. Smucker has a 52 week low of $105.69 and a 52 week high of $153.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $112.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.34. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.64 earnings per share. J. M. Smucker’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.55%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SlateStone Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. SlateStone Wealth LLC now owns 3,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 178.8% in the 2nd quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 22,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,452,000 after purchasing an additional 14,420 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares during the period. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $253,000. Finally, Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $327,000 after purchasing an additional 500 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.