The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.25.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SJM shares. Barclays cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 14th. Argus decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 298.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 20,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after buying an additional 15,182 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 170,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,554,000 after acquiring an additional 8,960 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,515,000 after acquiring an additional 518,433 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the first quarter valued at about $23,990,000. Finally, Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 431.4% during the fourth quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 9,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 7,658 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE SJM opened at $121.15 on Tuesday. J. M. Smucker has a fifty-two week low of $105.69 and a fifty-two week high of $134.62. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.24.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.21 EPS. Equities analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. This is an increase from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.67%.

About J. M. Smucker

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.