Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Increases Holdings in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its position in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 36.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,061 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,453 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned approximately 0.24% of J&J Snack Foods worth $7,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in J&J Snack Foods by 163.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in J&J Snack Foods in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in J&J Snack Foods by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 48.2% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

J&J Snack Foods Price Performance

NASDAQ:JJSF opened at $130.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.99 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $153.24. J&J Snack Foods Corp. has a 1-year low of $116.60 and a 1-year high of $180.80.

J&J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.29). J&J Snack Foods had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 9.84%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that J&J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

J&J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. J&J Snack Foods’s payout ratio is 71.89%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on J&J Snack Foods from $175.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of J&J Snack Foods in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

J&J Snack Foods Company Profile

J&J Snack Foods Corp. engages in the manufacturing of nutritional snack foods and distribution of frozen beverages to the food service and retail supermarket industries. It operates through the following segments: Food Service, Retail Supermarkets, and Frozen Beverages. The Food Service segment includes soft pretzels, frozen novelties, churros, handheld products, and baked goods.