Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 6,715 Shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Confluence Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,448 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,715 shares during the quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of J & J Snack Foods worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in JJSF. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 902.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 19,000.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 955 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in J & J Snack Foods by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 966 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in J & J Snack Foods by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

J & J Snack Foods Price Performance

Shares of JJSF opened at $74.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74 and a beta of 0.34. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 1 year low of $73.76 and a 1 year high of $142.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.29.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $343.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $365.95 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. J & J Snack Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 101.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered J & J Snack Foods from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Benchmark reissued 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $130.00.

J & J Snack Foods 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.