J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Cut to Hold at TD Cowen

TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $121.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $130.00.

SJM has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.33.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

NYSE:SJM opened at $105.36 on Wednesday. J. M. Smucker has a fifty-two week low of $104.27 and a fifty-two week high of $134.62. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $113.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.77. The company has a market cap of $11.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. Analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 87.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SJM. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 11,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,228,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 342.8% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 3,459 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,934 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the second quarter valued at approximately $556,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.