J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Coverage Initiated at UBS Group

UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SJM. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $123.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their target price on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

NYSE:SJM traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $113.74. 427,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,171,496. The company has a market capitalization of $12.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.35 and a 200 day moving average of $111.73. J. M. Smucker has a 1-year low of $98.77 and a 1-year high of $125.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. Research analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 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 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company's stock worth $411,222,000 after purchasing an additional 380,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company's stock worth $286,664,000 after acquiring an additional 58,231 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21.0% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,009,017 shares of the company's stock worth $221,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,758 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.