Phocas Financial Corp. Buys Shares of 40,358 J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Key Points

• Phocas Financial Corp. purchased 40,358 shares of J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) in Q4, a new stake valued at about $3.65 million and representing roughly 0.21% of the company.
• J & J Snack Foods announced a quarterly dividend of $0.80 (annualized $3.20, ~4.0% yield) and a board-approved $50 million share buyback (up to ~2.8% of shares), though the dividend payout ratio is high at ~101.9%.
• In its latest quarter JJSF posted $0.33 EPS (beat by $0.01) while revenue fell 5.2% year-over-year and missed estimates; the stock trades near $79 with a market cap of about $1.51 billion and a consensus analyst rating of "Hold."

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 40,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,647,000. Phocas Financial Corp. owned about 0.21% of J & J Snack Foods as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 902.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 897.7% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 439 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 19,000.0% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 955 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in J & J Snack Foods by 38.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 966 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 71.1% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut J & J Snack Foods from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, J & J Snack Foods has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $130.00.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JJSF opened at $79.22 on Monday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a twelve month low of $73.75 and a twelve month high of $142.69. The company has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.23 and a beta of 0.38. The company's 50 day moving average is $83.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.13.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.01. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.92% and a return on equity of 8.79%. The business had revenue of $343.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $365.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. J & J Snack Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 101.91%.

J & J Snack Foods announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

J & J Snack Foods Company Profile

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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