Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $809,000 in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $809,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 487.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,459,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,837 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 363.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,274,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,258,000 after purchasing an additional 999,315 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 12,722.3% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 334,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,214,000 after purchasing an additional 331,417 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 32.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 646,827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,501,000 after purchasing an additional 157,443 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,777,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,503,000 after purchasing an additional 151,389 shares during the last quarter. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $113.60 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $120.10 and a 200 day moving average of $120.62. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $107.33 and a 12 month high of $159.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -481.82%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SJM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup dropped their target price 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, Barclays upped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $137.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

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

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.