J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $84.59, but opened at $78.35. J & J Snack Foods shares last traded at $78.2350, with a volume of 19,365 shares.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on JJSF. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $130.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On J & J Snack Foods

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 1,133.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 1,450.0% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 58.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings 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 valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.99.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $344.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $349.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were given a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. J & J Snack Foods’s payout ratio is 107.38%.

J & J Snack Foods declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 3rd that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board 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.