Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Lowers Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 33.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,971 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,978 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $658,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SJM. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,538,000 after acquiring an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 23,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,541,000 after buying an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,667,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on SJM. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $111.48 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $114.20 and a 200 day moving average of $111.34. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1 year low of $98.77 and a 1 year high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78% decrease in their position. 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.