Exeter Financial LLC Sells 1,841 Shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Exeter Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,180 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,841 shares during the quarter. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SJM. State Street Corp raised its stake in J. M. Smucker by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,111,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,145,000 after purchasing an additional 762,746 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 40.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,353,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $406,169,000 after purchasing an additional 958,142 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 8.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,783,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,435,000 after buying an additional 135,158 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 14.4% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,526,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,403,000 after buying an additional 192,075 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in J. M. Smucker by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,361,902 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,082,000 after buying an additional 192,748 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on SJM shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on J. M. Smucker from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J. M. Smucker news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 18,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,116,942. This represents a 5.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.40% of the company’s stock.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

Shares of J. M. Smucker stock opened at $102.22 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $112.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 1-year low of $100.77 and a 1-year high of $134.62.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The company reported $2.76 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by $0.25. J. M. Smucker had a return on equity of 14.35% and a net margin of 5.96%. The business had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 EPS. J. M. Smucker’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is 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.