Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 285 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC lowered its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,242 shares of the company’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $393,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SJM. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 553.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 8,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 7,517 shares during the last quarter. Natixis grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 49.8% in the first quarter. Natixis now owns 11,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 3,748 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in J. M. Smucker in the first quarter valued at about $362,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the first quarter worth about $428,000. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 58.7% in the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 868,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,302,000 after acquiring an additional 321,049 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.09.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $111.91 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.25. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $105.69 and a one year high of $134.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.27. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.8 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is 61.10%.

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.