Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Purchases Shares of 263 The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SJM. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,544,000 after buying an additional 130,533 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,222,000 after purchasing an additional 380,309 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,609,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,664,000 after purchasing an additional 58,231 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $265,942,000 after purchasing an additional 418,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,009,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,232,000 after purchasing an additional 33,758 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of SJM opened at $111.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $11.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.32. The J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $125.42.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group initiated coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $126.50.

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.