Wedmont Private Capital Takes $297,000 Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 18,676 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,351,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the first quarter worth $400,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 47.5% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 898 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.2% during the first quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 3,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 412.4% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 10,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,345,000 after acquiring an additional 8,566 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total transaction of $399,264.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,192.42. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SJM shares. Argus dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 13th. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.64.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:SJM opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $106.32 and a 52-week high of $153.94. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $112.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.70. The company has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.23.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.34. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.15% and a net margin of 9.10%. The business had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 10.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.55%.

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.