First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 67,028 Shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 19.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 404,461 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67,028 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.08% of J & J Snack Foods worth $38,865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 29.8% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 210,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,921,000 after purchasing an additional 48,466 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,712,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,367,000 after buying an additional 24,175 shares during the period. Bernzott Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors now owns 102,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,897,000 after buying an additional 36,614 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 1,544.4% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 38,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,742,000 after acquiring an additional 36,571 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 166.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,948,000 after acquiring an additional 16,231 shares during the period. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:JJSF opened at $81.32 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $88.91 and its 200-day moving average is $92.75. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 52 week low of $80.00 and a 52 week high of $142.69. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90 and a beta of 0.34.

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

J & J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.91%.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.