Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 31,612 Shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,000,911 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,612 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of J & J Snack Foods worth $180,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the fourth quarter valued at about $451,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in J & J Snack Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. CWM LLC increased its position in J & J Snack Foods by 200.6% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. acquired a new stake in J & J Snack Foods in the fourth quarter worth about $3,647,000. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in J & J Snack Foods by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 8,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. 76.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

J & J Snack Foods Price Performance

Shares of JJSF stock opened at $76.17 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.43. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 12 month low of $73.53 and a 12 month high of $129.24.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $344.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.67 million. J & J Snack Foods had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 3.75%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

J & J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. J & J Snack Foods’s payout ratio is presently 107.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on JJSF shares. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research lowered J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, J & J Snack Foods presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $130.00.

About J & J Snack Foods

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ: JJSF) is a U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor of branded snack foods and frozen beverages. Headquartered in Pennsauken, New Jersey, the company develops, produces and markets a broad array of proprietary and licensed products for retail, concession and foodservice customers. Its offerings span soft pretzels, frozen novelties, real Italian ice, churros and packaged beverages under well-known names such as ICEE, SuperPretzel, Luigi’s and ChurroMan.

Founded in 1971 by Gerald B.