Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,304 shares during the quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $5,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,169,000 after acquiring an additional 958,142 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after purchasing an additional 762,746 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 891.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,226,000 after purchasing an additional 521,404 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4,996.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 207,202 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,092,000 after purchasing an additional 203,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,082,000 after buying an additional 192,748 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of J. M. Smucker 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.78.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

NYSE:SJM opened at $103.65 on Friday. 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 twelve month low of $99.81 and a twelve month high of $134.62. The stock has a market cap of $11.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.14.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is presently 87.45%.

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.