Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 125,108 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its J. M. Smucker stake by 46.9% in Q1, selling 125,108 shares and leaving it with 141,435 shares worth about $13.64 million.
• J. M. Smucker beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $2.77 versus $2.64 expected, with revenue of $2.27 billion, up 5.8% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leaning neutral: the stock has a consensus Hold rating with an average price target of $121.13, while the shares recently traded up 2.7% and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 46.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 141,435 shares of the company's stock after selling 125,108 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.13% of J. M. Smucker worth $13,640,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SJM. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 68.1% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the second quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on SJM shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on J. M. Smucker from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $121.13.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 2.7%

SJM opened at $115.55 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.74. The J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $88.25 and a fifty-two week high of $119.39. The company has a market cap of $12.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 9th. The company reported $2.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.64 by $0.13. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 1.53% and a positive return on equity of 17.18%. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. J. M. Smucker has set its FY 2027 guidance at 9.750-10.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.96 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -338.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 3,630 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.05, for a total transaction of $403,111.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 38,699 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,297,523.95. The trade was a 8.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 5,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.29, for a total transaction of $645,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 16,039 shares in the company, valued at $1,865,175.31. This represents a 25.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company's main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker's core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker's® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin'® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.

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