J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J & J Snack Foods presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Down 2.7%

JJSF stock opened at $95.80 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60 and a beta of 0.34. J & J Snack Foods has a fifty-two week low of $80.67 and a fifty-two week high of $145.42.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 17th. The company reported $1.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.34. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 4.14% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $410.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $424.08 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.60 EPS. J & J Snack Foods’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that J & J Snack Foods will post 4.75 EPS for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Kathleen E. Ciaramello bought 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $90.56 per share, with a total value of $48,902.40. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 1,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,737.28. This represents a 114.16% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 20.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of J & J Snack Foods

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 962.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 107,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,301,000 after acquiring an additional 97,108 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd purchased a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,045,000. Ranger Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 52.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ranger Investment Management L.P. now owns 200,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,743,000 after purchasing an additional 68,916 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 404,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,865,000 after buying an additional 67,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,688,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $200,143,000 after buying an additional 58,917 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.04% of the company’s stock.

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.