Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $4.80 Million in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 43,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,802,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.1% in 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. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Code Waechter LLC lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,942. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.5 %

SJM opened at $112.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.27. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $98.77 and a 52 week high of $127.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $106.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The business 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 predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.85%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -179.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. StockNews.com downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. TD Cowen cut 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 research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their target price on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.13.

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.