V Square Quantitative Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 20.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,388 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $369,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 298.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 20,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,562,000 after purchasing an additional 15,182 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 170,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,554,000 after acquiring an additional 8,960 shares in the last quarter. Ardevora Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $11,147,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,471,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,702,515,000 after acquiring an additional 518,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the first quarter worth $23,990,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SJM. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $132.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $137.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Argus lowered their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $150.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.64.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $119.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,234,705. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 0.52. The J. M. Smucker Company has a one year low of $105.69 and a one year high of $147.48. The stock has a market cap of $12.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.25.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 6th. The company reported $2.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.32 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $2.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.24 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 14.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 10.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from J. M. Smucker’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.67%.

Insider Activity at J. M. Smucker

In related news, CEO Mark T. Smucker sold 10,000 shares of J. M. Smucker stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.16, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.