Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Trims Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 154,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,861 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $17,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 10.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 3rd quarter valued at about $682,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 15,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 135,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,405,000 after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 4.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 703,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,251,000 after purchasing an additional 31,745 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SJM shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. TD Cowen lowered J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.67.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

J. M. Smucker stock opened at $116.33 on Wednesday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $98.77 and a 12-month high of $125.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company has a market capitalization of $12.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $111.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.88.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About J. M. Smucker

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.