Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in The J. M. Smucker Company $SJM

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 70.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,521 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,518 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 100.4% in the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 22.9% in the third quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at about $66,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $120.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $124.00 to $113.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $103.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Evercore started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Friday, May 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $117.00 target price on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $116.35.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE SJM opened at $103.31 on Friday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1 year low of $88.25 and a 1 year high of $119.39. The firm has a market cap of $11.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.76, a PEG ratio of 7.04 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.01.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.61 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is presently -37.32%.

About J. M. Smucker

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.