The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc reduced its J. M. Smucker stake by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 18,923 shares and ending with 331,639 shares valued at about $32.4 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed: analysts currently rate SJM a Hold overall, with 11 Buy ratings, 9 Hold ratings, and 1 Sell rating, and a consensus price target of $116.35.
• J. M. Smucker recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.38 EPS on $2.34 billion in revenue, and it will pay a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share on June 1 for a 4.3% annualized yield.

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331,639 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,923 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.31% of J. M. Smucker worth $32,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Delta Asset Management LLC TN increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 1,378 shares of the company's stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,615 shares of the company's stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,861 shares of the company's stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 22.9% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 586 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the company's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SJM. BTIG Research began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $145.00 to $134.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $124.00 to $113.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $116.35.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $103.31 on Friday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $88.25 and a one year high of $119.39. The company has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a PE ratio of -8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 0.25. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.01.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The business had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.03 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is currently -37.32%.

About J. M. Smucker

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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