The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) to Issue $1.08 Quarterly Dividend

The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of 1.08 per share on Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.71%.

J. M. Smucker has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 27 years. J. M. Smucker has a dividend payout ratio of 39.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect J. M. Smucker to earn $10.42 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.32 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.5%.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:SJM opened at $116.39 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $111.74 and its 200-day moving average is $111.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. J. M. Smucker has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.42. The firm has a market cap of $12.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. Equities analysts anticipate that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SJM shares. Barclays cut their price target on 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the 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 owns 8,794 shares in the company, valued at $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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.

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.