Middle Coast Investing, an investment advisor firm, released its second-quarter investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. It was a good and active quarter for the firm. The portfolio’s price to earnings for the trailing 12 months (TTM) was 20.8. Cash and equivalents accounted for 13.4% of the portfolio at the end of the quarter, with an estimated average yield of 3.9%. This compares to 14.7% of the portfolio and a 3.9% yield at the end of Q1. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Middle Coast Investing highlighted stocks like The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) manufactures and markets food and beverage products. The one-month return of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) was 3.59%, and its shares lost 21.22% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 15, 2024, The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) stock closed at $116.38 per share with a market capitalization of $12.387 billion.
Middle Coast Investing stated the following regarding The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM), like Lululemon, is an S&P 500 component and one of the worst 70 or so stocks in the S&P 500 this year. The maker of Jif, Smuckers jams, Uncrustables, Folgers Coffee, and Dunkin Coffee pods has had a bad 10 months since announcing its purchase of Hostess Brands (Twinkies, Hostess Cupcakes, etc.). Hostess was expensive and exposes J.M. Smucker to the risk that the new weight-loss drugs suppress diehard consumers’ appetite for sweets.
I think J.M. Smucker shares have suffered enough, and are at a point where a buy should work. The company is producing ample free cash flow to cover its likely to grow ~4% dividend while also paying down debt, which will improve both its profitability and its stock value. J.M. Smucker’s products and brands are leaders, including Hostess. I don’t think this will be a huge winner, but I do think there’s relatively safe upside here. I should note that another of my idea sources, Thomas Lott, mentioned SJM on Cash Flow Compounders; I had already been looking at the company for a while, but it’s always good to see a smart investor following it.”
A wholesaler distributing peanut butter, fruit spreads and specialty spreads to a retailer.
The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 37 hedge fund portfolios held The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) at the end of the first quarter which was 35 in the previous quarter. The J. M. Smucker Company’s (NYSE:SJM) net sales declined by 1% in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024, while comparable net sales increased by 3% (See the details here). While we acknowledge the potential of The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed The J. M. Smucker Company (NYSE:SJM) and shared Ariel Focus Fund’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
