Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 27.8% in the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 2,516.2% in the second quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 54.9% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in J. M. Smucker by 162.4% in the second quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 39,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,000 after purchasing an additional 24,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker in the second quarter worth about $42,000. 81.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at J. M. Smucker

In other news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $112,322.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,116,942. The trade was a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Barclays decreased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.56.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $110.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.84. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $105.69 and a 52 week high of $134.62. The company has a market cap of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.39, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.26.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently 87.45%.

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.