Private Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,200 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Private Capital Management LLC lifted its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 31.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,038 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,469,544,000 after buying an additional 130,533 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,664,000 after acquiring an additional 58,231 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,942,000 after acquiring an additional 418,878 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,009,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,758 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on SJM shares. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.50.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In other news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction of $594,902.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. This represents a 36.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $110.51 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.31. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $98.77 and a one year high of $125.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. As a group, research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is -179.25%.

J. M. Smucker 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.