Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 14,039 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SJM. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1,329.4% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.1 %

SJM stock opened at $111.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.88 billion, a PE ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.58. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $98.77 and a one year high of $127.59. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $106.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.65.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. As a group, analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -179.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. Barclays decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 3.40% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.