Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 32.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 599,580 shares of the company's stock after selling 294,390 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.56% of J. M. Smucker worth $66,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SJM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at $112,978,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company's stock worth $265,942,000 after buying an additional 418,878 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company's stock valued at $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,988,000. Finally, Amundi raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 49.3% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 628,381 shares of the company's stock worth $66,250,000 after acquiring an additional 207,477 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SJM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen cut J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $125.67.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

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

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:SJM traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $114.85. 1,028,075 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,183,804. 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $111.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.88. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1 year low of $98.77 and a 1 year high of $125.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. Equities analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

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.