Williams Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 2,268 The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Williams Financial LLC acquired a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SJM. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 298.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 20,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,562,000 after acquiring an additional 15,182 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 170,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,554,000 after purchasing an additional 8,960 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,515,000 after purchasing an additional 518,433 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 1st quarter valued at about $23,990,000. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisors L.P. acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $14,198,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. BNP Paribas raised J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.25.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $120.74 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $117.97 and its 200-day moving average is $116.21. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1 year low of $105.69 and a 1 year high of $134.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.82 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.