Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 9,779 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM - Free Report) by 61.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,050 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,779 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Probity Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Probity Advisors Inc. now owns 8,791 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,065,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 2,987 shares of the company's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 17.9% during the 4th quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 660 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.5% in the third quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,178 shares of the company's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective 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. TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $126.78.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of SJM stock traded down $1.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $104.29. The company had a trading volume of 450,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,928. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $109.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.80. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $99.81 and a 52-week high of $133.85. The company has a market capitalization of $11.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker's payout ratio is 87.45%.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,116,942. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

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.