Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,727 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 983 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in J. M. Smucker were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of J. M. Smucker by 188.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 231 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in J. M. Smucker during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of J. M. Smucker in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in shares of J. M. Smucker by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 475 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on SJM shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on J. M. Smucker from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded J. M. Smucker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of J. M. Smucker from $123.00 to $119.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of J. M. Smucker from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, J. M. Smucker has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Tucker H. Marshall sold 5,028 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.36, for a total transaction of $569,974.08. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,493.68. This represents a 27.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 3.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

J. M. Smucker Stock Performance

J. M. Smucker stock opened at $111.89 on Tuesday. The J. M. Smucker Company has a 52 week low of $98.77 and a 52 week high of $127.59. 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 stock has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $106.58 and a 200-day moving average of $112.56.

J. M. Smucker (NYSE:SJM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.23 billion. J. M. Smucker had a net margin of 5.96% and a return on equity of 14.35%. On average, analysts expect that The J. M. Smucker Company will post 9.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J. M. Smucker Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. J. M. Smucker’s payout ratio is currently -179.25%.

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.