The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM Shares Sold by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC trimmed its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company by 6.7% in Q4, selling 33,808 shares and ending the quarter with 470,907 shares (about 0.44% of the company) valued at roughly $46.06 million.
• Several large investors aggressively added to SJM—UBS (+238.7% to 3.92M shares, $383.8M), Two Sigma, National Bank of Canada, AQR and new entrant Capitolis—leaving institutional ownership at about 81.66%.
• Smucker beat Q4 EPS estimates ($2.38 vs. $2.27) on $2.34B revenue (up 7% YoY), trades near $95.42 with a market cap of $10.18B and a negative P/E, and announced a $1.10 quarterly dividend (4.6% yield) payable June 1.

Vest Financial LLC decreased its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 470,907 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,808 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.44% of J. M. Smucker worth $46,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. UBS Group AG grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 238.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,924,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $383,834,000 after acquiring an additional 2,765,559 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 6,854.4% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,527,962 shares of the company's stock valued at $165,937,000 after acquiring an additional 1,505,991 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 797.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,401,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,167,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245,035 shares in the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $112,944,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 339.1% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,029,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,156,000 after buying an additional 794,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company's stock.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $95.42 on Tuesday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1-year low of $88.25 and a 1-year high of $119.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $101.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a PE ratio of -8.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.04 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.6%. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -37.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SJM. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded J. M. Smucker from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas Exane set a $125.00 target price on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on J. M. Smucker from $117.00 to $97.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded J. M. Smucker from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Ten research 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 MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $117.25.

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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