Quest Partners LLC Raises Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 1,868.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,188 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,772 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $992,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Boston Partners purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $364,990,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 186.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 805,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,195,000 after purchasing an additional 523,803 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 891.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 579,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,226,000 after purchasing an additional 521,404 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC increased its stake in J. M. Smucker by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,354,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,749,000 after purchasing an additional 486,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP purchased a new position in J. M. Smucker in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $48,207,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SJM shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on 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. Barclays dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $121.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $122.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $127.09.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM stock opened at $112.04 on Thursday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52-week low of $105.69 and a 52-week high of $134.62. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported $2.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.17 by $0.27. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.22% and a net margin of 8.77%. The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.21 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.79 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.08 dividend. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently 61.10%.

J. M. Smucker 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.