Brokerages Set The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Price Target at $126.78

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $126.78.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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 downgraded J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

NYSE:SJM traded up $2.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $110.02. 1,759,637 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,115,269. J. M. Smucker has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $127.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $106.33 and a 200 day moving average of $113.54. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 87.45%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $112,978,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company's stock valued at $406,169,000 after buying an additional 958,142 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 904,278 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $861,145,000 after acquiring an additional 762,746 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 891.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,226,000 after acquiring an additional 521,404 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.