Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Position in The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 331,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,923 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $32,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Delta Asset Management LLC TN lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Delta Asset Management LLC TN now owns 1,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $135,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 2.9% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 3,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.2% during the third quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 8,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 22.9% during the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 586 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $103.31 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31. The J. M. Smucker Company has a twelve month low of $88.25 and a twelve month high of $119.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $97.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.01. The stock has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.76, a P/E/G ratio of 6.97 and a beta of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is -37.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SJM shares. Bank of America upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $145.00 to $134.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen cut J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. BTIG Research started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $116.35.

About J. M. Smucker

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.