Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 52,741 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,094 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $6,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 300.0% in the fourth quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

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 transaction of $399,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,192.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SJM traded up $0.62 on Friday, hitting $111.58. 1,098,221 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,407,910. The company has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.65. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $106.32 and a 52 week high of $154.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.34. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SJM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Argus decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.64.

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.