Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Lowers Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 22.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,000 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $5,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SJM. FMR LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 958,142 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 186.3% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 805,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,195,000 after buying an additional 523,803 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 891.3% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,226,000 after buying an additional 521,404 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 56.0% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,354,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,749,000 after buying an additional 486,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 123.2% in the second quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 425,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,378,000 after acquiring an additional 234,619 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SJM shares. Barclays lifted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, J. M. Smucker currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $128.00.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

NYSE:SJM opened at $118.02 on Friday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $105.69 and a one year high of $134.62. The stock has a market cap of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $116.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is 87.45%.

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.