Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lessened its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,861 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned approximately 0.15% of J. M. Smucker worth $17,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company's stock worth $1,469,544,000 after purchasing an additional 130,533 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company's stock worth $411,222,000 after buying an additional 380,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company's stock valued at $286,664,000 after buying an additional 58,231 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,942,000 after acquiring an additional 418,878 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company's stock worth $150,082,000 after acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock traded down $0.30 during trading on Monday, hitting $116.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 114,957 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,177,780. The business has a fifty day moving average of $111.98 and a 200-day moving average of $111.74. The company has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $98.77 and a 52 week high of $125.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is -179.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. This represents a 36.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SJM shares. Barclays reduced their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

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.