Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC Increases Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,486 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 922 shares during the quarter. Sound Financial Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1,329.4% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.13.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

NYSE SJM opened at $109.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.27. The J. M. Smucker Company has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $127.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.17 and a 200 day moving average of $112.99.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly 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. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

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.