Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 7,861 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,405 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,861 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 0.15% of J. M. Smucker worth $17,003,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 2,731 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company's stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Mendel Money Management lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Mendel Money Management now owns 3,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Code Waechter LLC grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Code Waechter LLC now owns 5,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $553,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE SJM traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $116.39. 1,189,117 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,182,822. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.83. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was 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 owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. This represents a 36.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SJM. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of 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. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.67.

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.