Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Blair William & Co. IL trimmed its position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,494 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,855 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $7,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

NYSE SJM opened at $116.13 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12 month low of $98.77 and a 12 month high of $125.75. The stock has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $108.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.20.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 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 the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SJM shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. DA Davidson lowered 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. StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.67.

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.