UBS Group Initiates Coverage on J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM)

UBS Group began coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $134.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group's target price points to a potential upside of 13.79% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays dropped 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. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. TD Cowen downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $117.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.77. 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 has a 1-year low of $98.77 and a 1-year high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. Analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J. M. Smucker 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,978,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company's stock worth $102,346,000 after purchasing an additional 904,278 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 76.7% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,078,892 shares of the company's stock valued at $118,808,000 after buying an additional 468,200 shares during the period. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 87.8% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 925,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,861,000 after buying an additional 432,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position 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 period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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