J. M. Smucker Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:SJM)

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 4,550 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 244% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,324 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $367,544.25. This trade represents a 37.84% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 324,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,721,000 after acquiring an additional 11,339 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 73,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 17,471 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,960 shares in the last quarter. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 124.8% in the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 13,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 7,414 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SJM shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised J. M. Smucker from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $118.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $119.00 to $105.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $124.00 price objective (up from $123.00) on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $128.00 to $118.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.80.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM traded down $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $95.73. 2,925,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,233,808. J. M. Smucker has a 12 month low of $93.93 and a 12 month high of $125.42. The firm has a market cap of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $112.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.66.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 10th. The company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.25 by $0.06. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.66 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is presently -37.37%.

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.