WBI Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 12,850 The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

WBI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,415,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SJM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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 lowered 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. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.50.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of SJM opened at $113.53 on Monday. 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 J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.02 and its 200-day moving average is $111.26. The stock has a market capitalization 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,022,390.44. The trade was a 36.78% 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.