Tarang Amin, a director at
J.M. Smucker (SJM), recently bought 1,000 shares. The buy is an initial stake for the director, who paid about $125,000 for the stock.
This marks the first insider buy at the company over the past two years. Otherwise, company insiders have been regular sellers of shares. That includes traditional stock sales as well as sales following the exercise of stock options.
Overall, Smucker insiders own 3.5 percent of shares.
The packaged food conglomerate is down about 18 percent over the past year. Rising interest rates have made the defensive company less interesting to investors.
And new weight loss drugs are leading to a potential drop in demand for packaged snack foods.
Smucker has been caught up in that challenge, with earnings growing just 2 percent over the past year. However, with revenues down 12 percent, the rise in earnings is a sign the company is improving its operations.
Action to take: Long-term investors may like shares here. The stock is a dividend growth company, and shares pay a 3.3 percent starting yield from today’s beaten-down prices.
For traders, shares are just coming off of oversold levels. The April 2024 $140 calls, last going for about $2.10, could see mid-to-high double-digit returns in the months ahead. Traders may want to take quick profits to benefit from any market rally in the coming weeks.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in the company mentioned here, but may trade after the next 72 hours. The author receives no compensation from any of the companies mentioned in this article.
