D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 5,079 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 22.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,990 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,079 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $3,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 300.0% in the 4th quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 2,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 77.1% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on SJM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. DA Davidson started coverage on J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $132.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com raised J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at J. M. Smucker

In other J. M. Smucker news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.77, for a total transaction of $399,264.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,116,192.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

SJM stock opened at $110.40 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $11.72 billion, a PE ratio of -125.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $116.76 and a 200-day moving average of $120.65. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 12-month low of $107.33 and a 12-month high of $156.03.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported $2.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 14.29% and a negative net margin of 1.24%. J. M. Smucker’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.06 per share. This represents a $4.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -481.81%.

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.