Northern Trust Corp Trims Stake in J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in J & J Snack Foods Corp. by 5.5%, now owning 198,256 shares valued at $26.11 million.
• J & J Snack Foods recently announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.80, representing an annualized rate of $3.20 and a yield of 2.9%.
• The company reported earnings of $2.00 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $454.3 million for the period.

Northern Trust Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,256 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,642 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.02% of J & J Snack Foods worth $26,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of JJSF. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 4.8% in the first quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 3.0% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 4,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 401 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC increased its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 301.3% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 634 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of J & J Snack Foods from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.50.

J & J Snack Foods Price Performance

JJSF stock traded up $1.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $109.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 153,826. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a twelve month low of $106.40 and a twelve month high of $180.80. The company's fifty day moving average price is $114.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 0.42.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $2.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $454.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $445.98 million. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 8.79%. J & J Snack Foods's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Equities analysts expect that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.80 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This is a boost from J & J Snack Foods's previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. J & J Snack Foods's payout ratio is presently 72.73%.

J & J Snack Foods Company Profile

J&J Snack Foods Corp. engages in the manufacturing of nutritional snack foods and distribution of frozen beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries. It operates through the following segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. The Food Service segment includes soft pretzels, frozen novelties, churros, handheld products, and baked goods.