Bridgefront Capital LLC Acquires New Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Bridgefront Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 7,977 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $878,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SJM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,469,544,000 after buying an additional 130,533 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,664,000 after purchasing an additional 58,231 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company's stock worth $265,942,000 after purchasing an additional 418,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,009,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,758 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on SJM shares. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. UBS Group initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.5 %

SJM stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $111.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,086,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,170,683. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $98.77 and a 52-week high of $125.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 transaction of $594,902.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

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.