Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Stake in J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 14.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,708 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,669 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.31% of J & J Snack Foods worth $5,833,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $228,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 122.1% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,566,000 after acquiring an additional 39,933 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 465.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 25,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,391,000 after purchasing an additional 21,196 shares during the period. 76.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JJSF opened at $84.87 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03 and a beta of 0.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.68. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 52 week low of $80.00 and a 52 week high of $144.37.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $343.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $365.95 million. J & J Snack Foods had a return on equity of 8.79% and a net margin of 3.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on JJSF shares. Zacks Research lowered J & J Snack Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.00.

J & J Snack Foods Company Profile

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.