J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its JJSF stake by 98.6% in the first quarter, selling 26,986 shares and retaining just 372 shares worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors still own 76.04% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: Jefferies upgraded the stock to “buy” with a $101 target, while Zacks downgraded it to “strong sell.” The consensus rating is “Hold”, with an average price target of $110.50.
• J & J Snack Foods reported quarterly EPS of $1.96, beating estimates of $1.70, although revenue fell 6.3% year over year to $425.96 million. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.80 per share, implying a 3.5% yield.

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF - Free Report) by 98.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 372 shares of the company's stock after selling 26,986 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in J & J Snack Foods were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 101,062 shares of the company's stock worth $8,011,000 after buying an additional 27,815 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the first quarter worth about $1,834,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 25.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,577 shares of the company's stock worth $9,717,000 after buying an additional 25,038 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 8.9% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 58,199 shares of the company's stock worth $4,613,000 after acquiring an additional 4,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments acquired a new stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods during the first quarter valued at approximately $205,000. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on JJSF shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of J & J Snack Foods from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $81.00 to $101.00 in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Zacks Research downgraded J & J Snack Foods from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Benchmark lowered 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $110.50.

J & J Snack Foods Trading Up 8.5%

NASDAQ JJSF opened at $91.86 on Friday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 1-year low of $68.87 and a 1-year high of $116.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 35.33 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $76.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.37.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.26. J & J Snack Foods had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 3.23%.The firm had revenue of $425.96 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $427.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. J & J Snack Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.38%.

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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