Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,209 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,363 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $4,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,329.4% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the third quarter worth about $40,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $112,322.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SJM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.78.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of SJM stock opened at $110.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $11.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $127.59. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.47.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.25. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.45%.

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.