Should you play it safe with SJM stock?
The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) is an American manufacturer of jam, peanut butter, jelly, fruit syrups, beverages, and other food products in North America. SJM’s portfolio includes popular brands like Folgers, Jif, Milk-Bone, Café Bustelo, Smucker's Uncrustables, and Rachael Ray Nutrish. Headquartered in Orrville, Ohio, J.M. Smucker also owns and operates over 30 manufacturing facilities and offices across North America. At last glance, SJM was trading down 0.3% at $130.77.
J.M. Smucker is scheduled to release its fiscal first-quarter earnings on Thursday, August 26. In recent history, J.M. Smucker stock has outperformed earnings expectations on all four of its most recent earnings reports. For fiscal first-quarter earnings last year, SJM outperformed analyst estimates by a margin of $0.70, reporting an EPS of $2.37. For Q2, J.M. Smucker's EPS increased to $2.39, beating expectations by a margin of $0.16. For Q3, SJM posted another increase in earnings, rising to $2.45 per share. The manufacturing company also beat estimates by a margin of $0.26. For its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings, J.M. Smucker reported an EPS of $1.89 and beat expectations by a margin of $0.22.
In terms of analyst outlook, SJM looks ripe for upgrades. Heading into today, all nine covering brokerage firms sport a tepid "hold" or worse recommendation on the equity.
J.M. Smucker stock has increased approximately 17% year-over-year and is up 21% since bottoming at a 52-week low of $108.10 last September. Additionally, shares of SJM have grown 14% year-to-date. However, J.M. Smucker stock is down 7% since reaching a four-year high of $140.65 in early June. Moreover, SJM offers a forward dividend of $3.96 and a dividend yield 3.02%.
J.M. Smucker is the classic value stock that long-term investors tend to look for in uncertain times, given the ever-lasting necessity for food products and SJM’s strong hold of its market-share. J.M. Smucker stock currently trades at a fair price-earnings ratio of 16.85 and has a decent forward price-earnings ratio of 15.11. In addition, SJM has maintained decent bottom-line growth throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, investors can expect J.M. Smucker stock to see modest long-term appreciation, as well as consistent returns from dividends.