Benjamin Edwards Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 61,571.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,585 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,550 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $2,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $587,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 6,703.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 159,873 shares of the company's stock worth $17,433,000 after acquiring an additional 157,523 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 62.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,174 shares of the company's stock worth $3,043,000 after buying an additional 9,250 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 14.1% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 127,618 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,915,000 after purchasing an additional 15,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company's stock worth $406,169,000 after buying an additional 958,142 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $127.73.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM traded up $1.25 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $116.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 853,116 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,538. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.69. 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 J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $105.69 and a 12-month high of $134.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. J. M. Smucker's revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.9 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.45%.

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.