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

Shares of J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 changing hands.

The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.21. J&J Snack Foods had a net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 9.98%. The company had revenue of $359.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $341.08 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

J&J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of J&J Snack Foods in a research report on Tuesday.

Insider Activity at J&J Snack Foods

In other J&J Snack Foods news, Director Marjorie Shreiber Roshkoff sold 625 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.73, for a total transaction of $92,331.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 69,459 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,261,178.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 22.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On J&J Snack Foods

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in JJSF. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in J&J Snack Foods by 12,431.7% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 204,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,490,000 after purchasing an additional 203,009 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of J&J Snack Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,404,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 6.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,473,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,985,000 after acquiring an additional 95,684 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in J&J Snack Foods during the first quarter worth about $8,909,000. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 102.1% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 91,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,993,000 after purchasing an additional 46,294 shares in the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

J&J Snack Foods Trading Up 16.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.04 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $140.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $153.51. 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.