Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,906 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $3,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 324,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,721,000 after acquiring an additional 11,339 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 6.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,082,000 after purchasing an additional 192,748 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at $1,273,000. Finally, Signal Advisors Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 336.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 9,982 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 5.2 %

NYSE SJM opened at $117.29 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $127.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.82. The stock has a market cap of $12.48 billion, a PE ratio of 23.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is -179.25%.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at $2,116,942. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. TD Cowen downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.13.

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.