Bailard Inc. Cuts Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Bailard Inc. lessened its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,145,000 after buying an additional 762,746 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,169,000 after acquiring an additional 958,142 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,082,000 after acquiring an additional 192,748 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 990,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,966,000 after acquiring an additional 13,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 977,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,677,000 after acquiring an additional 118,240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:SJM opened at $112.14 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $106.21 and a 200 day moving average of $113.06. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $98.77 and a 52 week high of $127.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.27.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -179.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $126.13.

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.