O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,398 shares of the company’s stock after selling 616 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $705,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SJM. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 324,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,721,000 after buying an additional 11,339 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,082,000 after acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth $1,273,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 336.3% during the 4th quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 12,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 9,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 271,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,875,000 after purchasing an additional 16,963 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM opened at $109.85 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.96. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $98.77 and a 12-month high of $125.42.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total transaction 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 represents a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

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.