Choate Investment Advisors Has $210,000 Holdings in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF)

Choate Investment Advisors lessened its stake in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) by 61.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,353 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,130 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in J&J Snack Foods were worth $210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in J&J Snack Foods by 4.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P raised its stake in J&J Snack Foods by 0.7% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 14,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of J&J Snack Foods by 6.4% in the third quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake 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 buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on JJSF shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on J&J Snack Foods from $175.00 to $135.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of J&J Snack Foods in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

J&J Snack Foods Price Performance

Shares of JJSF stock opened at $133.48 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.64. J&J Snack Foods Corp. has a one year low of $116.60 and a one year high of $180.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76 and a beta of 0.66.

J&J Snack Foods (NASDAQ:JJSF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.33 EPS 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, research analysts expect that J&J Snack Foods Corp. will post 4.75 earnings per share for the current year.

J&J Snack Foods Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. J&J Snack Foods’s payout ratio is presently 71.89%.

About J&J Snack Foods

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.