Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Sells 384 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SJM opened at $111.31 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $107.37 and its 200 day moving average is $112.23. The stock has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $98.77 and a 52-week high of $127.15.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total value of $569,974.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.