Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 9.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,214 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,483 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.22% of J. M. Smucker worth $27,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SJM. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 14,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,564,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $32,988,000. Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 14,377 shares of the company's stock worth $1,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 6,117 shares of the company's stock worth $674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SJM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $134.00 to $129.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upgraded J. M. Smucker from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:SJM traded up $1.62 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $112.99. 1,233,546 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,562,495. The company has a fifty day moving average of $104.29 and a 200 day moving average of $109.09. The J. M. Smucker Company has a twelve month low of $93.30 and a twelve month high of $125.42. The company has a market capitalization of $12.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.77, a P/E/G ratio of 8.43 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.81.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.20% and a negative net margin of 14.10%. The company's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.66 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This is an increase from J. M. Smucker's previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -38.06%.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, Director Tarang Amin purchased 1,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $96.09 per share, for a total transaction of $100,894.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,825 shares of the company's stock, valued at $367,544.25. This trade represents a 37.84% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.24% 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.