State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Increases Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,541 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,178 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.05% of J. M. Smucker worth $7,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 3rd quarter valued at $464,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 277,459 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,103,000 after buying an additional 36,296 shares in the last quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $11,147,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 58.3% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 238,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,085,000 after acquiring an additional 87,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the third quarter valued at about $5,522,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total value of $399,264.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,116,192.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on SJM. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $132.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.47.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:SJM traded down $1.58 on Friday, hitting $113.60. The stock had a trading volume of 1,330,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,273,934. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.09, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $120.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.62. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1-year low of $107.33 and a 1-year high of $159.92.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 1.24% and a positive return on equity of 14.29%. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.21 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -481.82%.

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.