BTIG Research Begins Coverage on J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM)

Equities researchers at BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research’s price target suggests a potential upside of 30.28% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of J. M. Smucker to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $125.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Bank of America raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $117.94.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

SJM stock traded down $0.10 on Monday, hitting $92.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 168,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,038,003. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $103.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.28. J. M. Smucker has a 1 year low of $88.25 and a 1 year high of $119.39. The stock has a market cap of $9.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 14.07% and a positive return on equity of 15.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.61 EPS. J. M. Smucker’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 238.7% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,924,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $383,834,000 after buying an additional 2,765,559 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,392,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,807,000 after buying an additional 850,943 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,783,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,232,000 after buying an additional 151,872 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,486,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $243,214,000 after buying an additional 357,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,562,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,661,000 after buying an additional 188,868 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.