First Financial Bank Trust Division Decreases Stock Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,023 shares of the company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $240,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $112,978,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,346,000 after buying an additional 904,278 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in J. M. Smucker by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,078,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $118,808,000 after buying an additional 468,200 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 925,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after buying an additional 432,500 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,415,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $265,942,000 after buying an additional 418,878 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on SJM shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 target price on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 28th. UBS Group began coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $134.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.70.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of SJM opened at $112.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.19. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1-year low of $98.77 and a 1-year high of $125.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.36.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This trade represents a 27.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 $1,022,390.44. This trade represents a 36.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

J. M. Smucker Company 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.