Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in J & J Snack Foods Corp. $JJSF

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in J & J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 24.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 92,900 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,424 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in J & J Snack Foods were worth $7,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in J & J Snack Foods by 1,133.3% during the fourth 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 boosted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 1,450.0% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in J & J Snack Foods by 58.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 404 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of J & J Snack Foods by 902.9% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 351 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 76.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of J & J Snack Foods from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of J & J Snack Foods from $130.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of J & J Snack Foods in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $120.00.

J & J Snack Foods Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ JJSF opened at $77.71 on Tuesday. J & J Snack Foods Corp. has a 52 week low of $68.87 and a 52 week high of $129.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.18. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08 and a beta of 0.38.

J & J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. J & J Snack Foods had a return on equity of 9.01% and a net margin of 3.75%.The firm had revenue of $344.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $349.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that J & J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4 EPS for the current year.

J & J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.80 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $3.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. J & J Snack Foods’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.38%.

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.