Two Sigma Securities LLC Reduces Stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Two Sigma Securities LLC lowered its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 81.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,846 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 3,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Code Waechter LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SJM shares. DA Davidson lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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, Morgan Stanley began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $115.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.73 and a 200 day moving average of $111.73. 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 J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $98.77 and a 12-month high of $125.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. On average, research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction of $569,974.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at $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. Corporate 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.