Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases 14,016 Shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Key Points

• Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 638.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 14,016 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 16,211 shares worth about $1.47 million.
• The company’s stock was trading around $76.17, near its 52-week low of $73.53 and well below its 52-week high of $129.24, giving it a market cap of about $1.45 billion.
• J & J Snack Foods recently beat earnings expectations with quarterly EPS of $0.40 versus $0.39 expected, but revenue missed estimates and fell 3.2% year over year; the company also pays a $0.80 quarterly dividend and has authorized a $50 million share repurchase program.

Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF - Free Report) by 638.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,211 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,016 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC owned about 0.09% of J & J Snack Foods worth $1,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JJSF. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 962.0% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 107,202 shares of the company's stock worth $10,301,000 after purchasing an additional 97,108 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the third quarter worth approximately $7,045,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 19.9% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 404,461 shares of the company's stock worth $38,865,000 after purchasing an additional 67,028 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 793.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 62,758 shares of the company's stock worth $6,030,000 after purchasing an additional 55,731 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 776.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,855 shares of the company's stock worth $4,415,000 after purchasing an additional 43,283 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.04% of the company's stock.

J & J Snack Foods Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of JJSF stock opened at $76.17 on Friday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 12 month low of $73.53 and a 12 month high of $129.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.43. The company's fifty day moving average price is $81.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.99.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The firm had revenue of $344.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $349.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.80 dividend. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. J & J Snack Foods's payout ratio is currently 107.38%.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, February 3rd that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on JJSF. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of J & J Snack Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated 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 and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $130.00.

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.

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