Reviewing J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) and John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS)

John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) and J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) are both small-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, risk, earnings, dividends, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares John B. Sanfilippo & Son and J & J Snack Foods’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	5.76%	18.11%	10.88%
J & J Snack Foods	3.75%	9.01%	6.18%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for John B. Sanfilippo & Son and J & J Snack Foods, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	0	3	1	0	2.25
J & J Snack Foods	2	0	1	0	1.67

John B. Sanfilippo & Son presently has a consensus price target of $109.00, suggesting a potential upside of 20.24%. J & J Snack Foods has a consensus price target of $120.00, suggesting a potential upside of 57.73%. Given J & J Snack Foods’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe J & J Snack Foods is more favorable than John B. Sanfilippo & Son.

Volatility & Risk

John B. Sanfilippo & Son has a beta of 0.34, suggesting that its stock price is 66% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, J & J Snack Foods has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its stock price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

70.6% of John B. Sanfilippo & Son shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.0% of J & J Snack Foods shares are owned by institutional investors. 30.2% of John B. Sanfilippo & Son shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 20.4% of J & J Snack Foods shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares John B. Sanfilippo & Son and J & J Snack Foods”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John B. Sanfilippo & Son	$1.16 billion	0.91	$58.93 million	$5.70	15.90
J & J Snack Foods	$1.58 billion	0.90	$65.60 million	$2.98	25.53

J & J Snack Foods has higher revenue and earnings than John B. Sanfilippo & Son. John B. Sanfilippo & Son is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than J & J Snack Foods, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

John B. Sanfilippo & Son pays an annual dividend of $0.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. J & J Snack Foods pays an annual dividend of $3.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. John B. Sanfilippo & Son pays out 15.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. J & J Snack Foods pays out 107.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. John B. Sanfilippo & Son has raised its dividend for 8 consecutive years and J & J Snack Foods has raised its dividend for 20 consecutive years. J & J Snack Foods is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

About John B. Sanfilippo & Son

John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. engages in the processing and distribution of nuts and nut-related products. It offers peanuts, pecans, cashews, walnuts, almonds, and other nuts under the brands of Fisher, Orchard Valley Harvest, Squirrel Brand, and Southern Style Nuts. The company was founded by Gaspare Sanfilippo and John B. Sanfilippo in 1922 and is headquartered in Elgin, IL.

About J & J Snack Foods

J&J Snack Foods Corp. engages in the manufacturing of nutritional snack foods and distribution of frozen beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries. It operates through the following segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. The Food Service segment includes soft pretzels, frozen novelties, churros, handheld products, and baked goods. The Retail Supermarkets segment offers soft pretzel products including Superpretzel, frozen juice treats and desserts, including Luigi’s real Italian ice, Minute Maid juice bars and soft frozen lemonade, Whole Fruit frozen fruit bars and sorbet, Philly Swirl cups and sticks, ICEE Squeeze-Up Tubes and dough enrobed handheld products including Patio burritos. The Frozen Beverages segment provides frozen beverages to the food service industry primarily under the names ICEE, SLUSH PUPPIE, and PARROT ICE in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, as well as repair and maintenance services. The company was founded by Gerald B. Shreiber in 1971 and is headquartered in Mount Laurel, NJ.