MQS Management LLC Makes New $362,000 Investment in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $362,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $210,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 215.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 10,260 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 7,010 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 205.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 6,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $866,000 after acquiring an additional 4,610 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,932,000 after acquiring an additional 7,945 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,722,000 after acquiring an additional 1,317 shares in the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total transaction of $1,101,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $116.01. The stock had a trading volume of 731,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,244,747. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $105.69 and a 52 week high of $153.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $118.73.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 10.06 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 59.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SJM. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. DA Davidson decreased 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 research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.