Legal & General Group Plc Decreases Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 32.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 599,580 shares of the company’s stock after selling 294,390 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.56% of J. M. Smucker worth $66,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank raised its position in J. M. Smucker by 1,365.5% during the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $115.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.92. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $98.77 and a one year high of $125.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.58 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -179.25%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, insider Jill R. Penrose sold 5,117 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.26, for a total value of $594,902.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,794 shares in the company, 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SJM shares. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on J. M. Smucker in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $123.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

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.