Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 5,153 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC reduced its stake in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 50.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,998 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,153 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth about $157,077,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 487.5% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,459,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210,837 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 363.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,274,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,258,000 after purchasing an additional 999,315 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 21,858.1% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 680,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,027,000 after purchasing an additional 677,600 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,515,000 after purchasing an additional 518,433 shares during the period. 81.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J. M. Smucker Trading Down 0.2 %

SJM stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.92. 141,011 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,266,237. The company has a market cap of $11.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.25. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $105.69 and a 52-week high of $153.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.86 and its 200-day moving average is $119.90.

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

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $132.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value of $1,101,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares in the company, valued at $8,675,871.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

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.