Advisors Capital Management LLC Buys 6,309 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Advisors Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 236,944 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,309 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.22% of J. M. Smucker worth $26,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SJM. Barclays decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a 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 target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.67.

Insider Activity

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. This represents a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE SJM traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $116.39. 1,189,117 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,182,809. The firm has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $98.77 and a 52-week high of $125.42. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.87.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

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.