Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 5,790 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 135,465 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,790 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of J. M. Smucker worth $16,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 6,703.1% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 159,873 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,433,000 after acquiring an additional 157,523 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 62.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 24,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,043,000 after purchasing an additional 9,250 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 14.1% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 127,618 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,915,000 after buying an additional 15,792 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 25.7% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 56,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,151,000 after purchasing an additional 11,622 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 553.9% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 8,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after purchasing an additional 7,517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on SJM shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $135.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Citigroup lowered 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $127.09.

J. M. Smucker Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:SJM opened at $106.92 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.56. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1-year low of $105.69 and a 1-year high of $134.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.12, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.17 by $0.27. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.8 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.10%.

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.