BlackRock Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,395,014 J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 2,395,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $175,914,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of J & J Snack Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 485.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 1,133.3% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 1,450.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on JJSF shares. Zacks Research downgraded J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Benchmark cut their target price on J & J Snack Foods from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $81.00 to $101.00 in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

J & J Snack Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ JJSF opened at $87.75 on Friday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a one year low of $68.87 and a one year high of $113.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.61 and a 200 day moving average of $80.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.75 and a beta of 0.38.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.26. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $425.96 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $427.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 123.08%.

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.