First Trust Advisors LP Has $74.66 Million Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 13.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 677,981 shares of the company's stock after selling 108,219 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.64% of J. M. Smucker worth $74,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SJM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth $112,978,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company's stock worth $102,346,000 after buying an additional 904,278 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 925,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,861,000 after buying an additional 432,500 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $265,942,000 after buying an additional 418,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company's stock worth $411,222,000 after buying an additional 380,309 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. This represents a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.5 %

SJM traded down $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $115.16. 788,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,175,147. 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 company has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $113.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.80. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $98.77 and a one year high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $126.50.

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.