Sabal Trust CO Trims Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Sabal Trust CO reduced its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 97.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 166,049 shares during the quarter. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SJM. Fairfield Bush & CO. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 30,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,137,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.6% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 14,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 339,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,980,000 after buying an additional 5,531 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,012.2% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 192,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,085,000 after purchasing an additional 175,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,721,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,722,666,000 after purchasing an additional 162,944 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SJM. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $132.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total value of $399,264.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,192.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 1.3 %

J. M. Smucker stock traded down $1.57 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $117.22. 738,263 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,088,437. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $107.33 and a 12 month high of $159.92. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.55.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.21. J. M. Smucker had a negative net margin of 1.24% and a positive return on equity of 14.29%. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.06 dividend. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -481.81%.

J. M. Smucker Company 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.