Cullen Investment Group LTD. Buys New Shares in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new stake in shares of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $976,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 369,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,658,000 after buying an additional 17,410 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth $377,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth $809,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth $225,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in J. M. Smucker by 72.6% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,074,000 after buying an additional 36,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other J. M. Smucker news, insider Jeannette L. Knudsen sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were 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 owns 8,946 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,192.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 3.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on SJM shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $153.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of J. M. Smucker in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $132.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of J. M. Smucker from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Nine investment 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

J. M. Smucker Price Performance

SJM opened at $110.20 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $11.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -125.23, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.21. The J. M. Smucker Company has a fifty-two week low of $107.33 and a fifty-two week high of $159.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $122.62 and a 200 day moving average of $120.93.

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

J. M. Smucker Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.85%. J. M. Smucker’s dividend payout ratio is presently -481.81%.

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.