Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 7,149 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 103,593 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,149 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.10% of J. M. Smucker worth $11,408,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % 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 insiders.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $110.78 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $11.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $127.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.53.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. As a group, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SJM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

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.