J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Sanford C. Bernstein

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) was upgraded by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $145.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $121.00. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price objective points to a potential upside of 33.48% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of J. M. Smucker from $120.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of J. M. Smucker from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of J. M. Smucker in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on J. M. Smucker from $121.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $121.14.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

Shares of SJM stock opened at $108.63 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $105.89 and a 200 day moving average of $105.31. J. M. Smucker has a 1 year low of $93.30 and a 1 year high of $120.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.54 and a beta of 0.22.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $2.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.11. J. M. Smucker had a positive return on equity of 15.94% and a negative net margin of 14.07%.The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.32 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that J. M. Smucker will post 9.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of J. M. Smucker by 238.7% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,924,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,834,000 after buying an additional 2,765,559 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in J. M. Smucker by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,392,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,807,000 after purchasing an additional 850,943 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,819,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,829,000 after purchasing an additional 195,774 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,776,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,539,000 after purchasing an additional 49,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,486,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,214,000 after purchasing an additional 357,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

About J. M. Smucker

The J. M. Smucker Company is a diversified food and beverage manufacturer and marketer known for a portfolio of well-established consumer brands. The company’s main business activities include the production and distribution of fruit spreads, peanut butter, coffee and coffee filters, as well as pet food and pet snacks. Smucker’s core product lines serve both retail and foodservice customers through grocery chains, mass merchandisers, club stores, convenience outlets and e-commerce channels.

Among its leading brands are Smucker’s® fruit spreads, Jif® peanut butter, Folgers® and Dunkin’® coffees, and Café Bustelo® coffee.