The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) CEO Mark T. Smucker Sells 30,000 Shares

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM – Get Rating) CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.41, for a total transaction of $4,602,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,260 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,914,986.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

NYSE SJM opened at $151.88 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $119.82 and a 12-month high of $163.07. The company has a market capitalization of $16.20 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $150.84 and its 200-day moving average is $148.37.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $2.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.08. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.54% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The company had revenue of $2.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 8.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $1.02 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $4.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SJM. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $148.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $145.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $157.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $149.70.

Institutional Trading of J. M. Smucker

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 48,822.8% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,281,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,568,000 after buying an additional 2,277,097 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 85,116.7% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,102,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,130,000 after buying an additional 2,099,830 shares during the last quarter. Edmp Inc. increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 15,418.9% during the fourth quarter. Edmp Inc. now owns 1,728,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,911,000 after buying an additional 1,717,816 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth $219,033,000. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 142.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 818,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,666,000 after buying an additional 480,979 shares during the last quarter. 79.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J. M. Smucker Company Profile

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The J. M. Smucker Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of food and beverage products. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Retail Coffee, U.S. Retail Consumer Foods, U.S. Retail Pet Foods, and International and Away From Home. The U. S. Retail Coffee segment includes domestic sales of Folgers, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Café Bustelo branded coffee.