J&J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) Shares Gap Up on Earnings Beat

Shares of J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $137.90, but opened at $145.00. J&J Snack Foods shares last traded at $154.73, with a volume of 18,966 shares.

The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $359.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.08 million. J&J Snack Foods had a return on equity of 9.98% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS.

J&J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.735 dividend. This represents a $2.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. J&J Snack Foods's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target on shares of J&J Snack Foods in a research note on Tuesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Marjorie Shreiber Roshkoff sold 625 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $92,331.25. Following the sale, the director now owns 69,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,261,178.07. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 22.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of J&J Snack Foods

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in J&J Snack Foods by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 172,108 shares of the company's stock worth $28,165,000 after buying an additional 7,023 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in J&J Snack Foods by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,548,424 shares of the company's stock worth $253,400,000 after purchasing an additional 8,918 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in J&J Snack Foods by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 33,900 shares of the company's stock worth $5,548,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new position in J&J Snack Foods during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,087,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in J&J Snack Foods by 12,431.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,642 shares of the company's stock worth $33,490,000 after purchasing an additional 203,009 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.04% of the company's stock.

J&J Snack Foods Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.04 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 2.40.

About J&J Snack Foods

J&J Snack Foods Corp. manufactures, markets, and distributes nutritional snack foods and beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. It operates through three segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. It offers soft pretzels under the SUPERPRETZEL, SUPERPRETZEL BAVARIAN, NEW YORK PRETZEL, BAVARIAN BAKERY, and BRAUHAUS brands, as well as under the private labels; frozen novelty under the DIPPIN'DOTS, LUIGI'S, WHOLE FRUIT, DOGSTERS, PHILLY SWIRL, ICEE, and MINUTE MAID brands; churros under the HOLA! and CALIFORNIA CHURROS brands; and handheld products under the SUPREME STUFFERS and SWEET STUFFERS brands.