The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 6,271 J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $461,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,000,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,822,000 after purchasing an additional 31,612 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP acquired a new position in shares of J & J Snack Foods in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,834,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,364,000 after buying an additional 18,424 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 186.7% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 42,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,400,000 after buying an additional 27,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 25.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 122,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,717,000 after buying an additional 25,038 shares in the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on JJSF. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $101.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Benchmark reduced 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 research report on Monday, May 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.50.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

JJSF stock opened at $84.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35 and a beta of 0.40. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 12-month low of $68.87 and a 12-month high of $110.78. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $80.25.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.26. J & J Snack Foods had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $425.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $427.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. J & J Snack Foods’s payout ratio is 123.08%.

J & J Snack Foods 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.