BTS Asset Management Inc. Buys New Stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

BTS Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,164 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $459,000. J. M. Smucker comprises approximately 0.5% of BTS Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company's stock worth $861,145,000 after buying an additional 762,746 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,783,183 shares of the company's stock valued at $194,435,000 after purchasing an additional 135,158 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in J. M. Smucker by 14.4% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,526,074 shares of the company's stock valued at $166,403,000 after buying an additional 192,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company's stock worth $150,082,000 after acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SJM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $127.33.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $102.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 955,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 896,921. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $99.81 and a one year high of $134.62. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.42. The stock has a market cap of $10.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.28.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.25. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. J. M. Smucker's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is 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.