Aviance Capital Partners LLC Grows Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $375,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SJM. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 28.2% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,634,000 after buying an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC bought a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 3rd quarter worth about $247,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SJM shares. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.13.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM opened at $117.29 on Friday. 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 has a market capitalization of $12.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.96. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $98.77 and a 52-week high of $127.59.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. As a group, analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

J. M. Smucker 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.