J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Shares Up 5.4% - Should You Buy?

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 5.4% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $117.15 and last traded at $117.50. Approximately 387,162 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 1,197,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $111.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut J. M. Smucker from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $126.13.

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J. M. Smucker Stock Up 5.2 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Utah Retirement Systems boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Utah Retirement Systems now owns 17,146 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake 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 valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,845 shares of the company's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company's stock.

J. M. Smucker Company 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.