The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) Shares Purchased by Two Sigma Advisers LP

Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 76.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,078,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 468,200 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $118,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,344,933 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,544,000 after acquiring an additional 130,533 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 11.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,734,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $411,222,000 after acquiring an additional 380,309 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 58,231 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,942,000 after acquiring an additional 418,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,009,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,232,000 after acquiring an additional 33,758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SJM. Barclays reduced their target price 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. DA Davidson reduced their target price on 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. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on 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. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $113.53 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The J. M. Smucker Company has a twelve month low of $98.77 and a twelve month high of $125.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.26. The firm has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other 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 value of $594,902.42. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. The trade was a 27.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

J. M. Smucker 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.