Staley Capital Advisers Inc. Sells 25,870 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM

Key Points

• Staley Capital Advisers cut its J. M. Smucker stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,870 shares and ending with 543,852 shares valued at about $53.2 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed to cautious, with several firms lowering price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Hold with a $116.59 average target.
• Smucker beat earnings estimates in its latest quarter, reporting EPS of $2.38 versus $2.27 expected, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share, implying a 4.4% yield.

Staley Capital Advisers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 543,852 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,870 shares during the period. J. M. Smucker accounts for about 2.2% of Staley Capital Advisers Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. owned 0.51% of J. M. Smucker worth $53,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 32.2% during the 4th quarter. Canada Post Corp Registered Pension Plan now owns 2,338 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $403,000. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 78.2% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 97,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,528,000 after purchasing an additional 42,748 shares in the last quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $309,000. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 81,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 9,022 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SJM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on J. M. Smucker from $117.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $103.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $118.00 to $104.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Evercore started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $116.59.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 0.3%

SJM stock opened at $100.46 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $98.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.10. 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $10.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio is -37.32%.

J. M. Smucker 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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