StockNews.com Downgrades J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) to Sell

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) was downgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded J. M. Smucker to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus reduced their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.25.

J. M. Smucker Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SJM opened at $120.74 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $12.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.17. J. M. Smucker has a 52-week low of $105.69 and a 52-week high of $134.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.13 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 8.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that J. M. Smucker will post 9.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other J. M. Smucker news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total transaction of $1,101,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,675,871.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J. M. Smucker

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SJM. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of J. M. Smucker in the first quarter worth $364,990,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker during the 4th quarter valued at about $157,077,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 21,858.1% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 680,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,027,000 after buying an additional 677,600 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 186.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $1,702,515,000 after acquiring an additional 518,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% 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.