Royce & Associates LP Makes New Investment in J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Royce & Associates LP bought a new position in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 327,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,596,000. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.72% of J & J Snack Foods at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the 1st quarter worth $228,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,196,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 122.1% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,566,000 after buying an additional 39,933 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 49.6% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 465.8% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 25,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,391,000 after buying an additional 21,196 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

JJSF stock opened at $74.55 on Tuesday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $129.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $78.68 and its 200 day moving average is $85.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 0.43.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 9.01%. The company had revenue of $344.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.67 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.16 EPS for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 3rd that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.