Vest Financial LLC Grows Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 17.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 484,952 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,140 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.46% of J. M. Smucker worth $53,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Probity Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.1% during the third quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 8,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.5% in the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.78.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 0.1 %

SJM stock opened at $103.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.46. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $99.81 and a 12 month high of $133.23. The company has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.27.

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 analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 87.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

J. M. Smucker Company 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.