Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Stock Price

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $130.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.55.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of SJM opened at $117.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.25. J. M. Smucker has a 52-week low of $105.69 and a 52-week high of $134.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $116.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.55.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.79 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 61.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SJM. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the first quarter valued at approximately $364,990,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,169,000 after purchasing an additional 958,142 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after purchasing an additional 762,746 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 186.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 805,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,195,000 after purchasing an additional 523,803 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 891.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,226,000 after purchasing an additional 521,404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

About J. M. Smucker

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.