Bank of Nova Scotia Purchases 580 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,200 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SJM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at $112,978,000. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 87.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 925,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after buying an additional 432,500 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,942,000 after buying an additional 418,878 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth about $32,988,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE SJM opened at $115.91 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $110.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SJM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction of $594,902.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.