Based on the aggregated intelligence of 180,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, food maker J.M. Smucker
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Smucker's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.
Smucker facts
| Headquarters (Founded) | Orrville, Ohio (1897) |
| Market Cap | $8.53 billion |
| Industry | Processed and packaged goods |
| Trailing-12-Month Revenue | $4.97 billion |
| Management |
CEO Richard Smucker (since August 2011) CFO Mark Belgya (since January 2005) |
| Return on Equity (Average, Past 3 Years) | 9.4% |
| Cash/Debt | $110.4 million / $1.6 billion |
| Dividend Yield | 2.6% |
| Competitors |
ConAgra Foods
Kraft Foods |
Sources: Capital IQ (a division of Standard & Poor's) and Motley Fool CAPS.
On CAPS, 95% of the 466 members who have rated Smucker believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include BKITU and All-Star TMF1000, who is ranked in the top 0.5% of our community.
Just last month, BKITU listed several of Smucker's positives:
Longtime cash-cow. Financially solid. As globalism increases (and disposable income for families around the globe likewise increases), look for companies producing inexpensive consumables to find plenty of room for growth.
Smucker even boats a robust three-year average operating margin of 17.6%. That's much higher than that of other food stocks like ConAgra (10.3%), Kraft (13.2%), and Unilever
CAPS All-Star TMF1000 elaborates on the Smucker bull case:
They continue to raise their dividend -- the annual dividend now is $1.96 giving them a dividend yield of 2.7%. I add to my dividend paying stocks when I believe the economy is about to take a hit. ...
SJM has a long history of success -- over 100 years. They own about 40% of the peanut butter and fruit spread market. And they have some big coffee brands. They are investing in their future which has hurt cash flow recently, but should mean greater growth in 2012 and beyond. The dividend yield is back by cash flow and nearly a billion in assets. Operating income is about 11 times interest expense.
In bad times, investors will seek companies that pay a dividend as a safe haven for some of their money. I believe they will continue to beat the S&P500.
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Interested in another easy way to track Smucker? Add it to your watchlist.
