Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Reduces Holdings in J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lowered its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 77.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,076 shares of the company’s stock after selling 339,138 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in J & J Snack Foods were worth $8,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in JJSF. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 485.1% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 275 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 897.7% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 439 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 902.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 19,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 955 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on JJSF. Zacks Research cut shares of J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of J & J Snack Foods from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Down 1.0%

J & J Snack Foods stock opened at $72.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35 and a beta of 0.43. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 52-week low of $68.87 and a 52-week high of $129.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.88.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $344.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.67 million. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.