J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Upgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 2.5 %

SJM traded down $2.93 on Tuesday, hitting $114.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,595,230 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,694. The firm has a market cap of $12.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. J. M. Smucker has a 1 year low of $98.77 and a 1 year high of $127.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. As a group, equities analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SJM. Norges Bank acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,978,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 40.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,169,000 after purchasing an additional 958,142 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 3,599.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 929,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,346,000 after purchasing an additional 904,278 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after purchasing an additional 762,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 891.3% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,226,000 after acquiring an additional 521,404 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.