J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) was in 10 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012. JJSF has seen an increase in hedge fund interest lately. There were 6 hedge funds in our database with JJSF positions at the end of the previous quarter.
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With these “truths” under our belt, we’re going to take a glance at the recent action encompassing J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF).
Hedge fund activity in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF)
At year’s end, a total of 10 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 67% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ sentiment swirling, there exists a select group of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their stakes significantly.
When looking at the hedgies we track, Chuck Royce’s Royce & Associates had the largest position in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF), worth close to $53 million, accounting for 0.2% of its total 13F portfolio. On Royce & Associates’s heels is Third Avenue Management, managed by Martin Whitman, which held a $23 million position; 0% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedgies that are bullish include Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies, Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.
As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Millennium Management, managed by Israel Englander, initiated the most outsized position in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF). Millennium Management had 1 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Joel Greenblatt’s Gotham Asset Management also initiated a $0 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new JJSF investors: Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp, Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Insider trading activity in J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF)
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the last six-month time period, J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) has experienced 1 unique insiders buying, and 8 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF). These stocks are The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN), Gruma S.A.B. de C.V. (ADR) (NYSE:GMK), TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS), Snyder S Lance Inc (NASDAQ:LNCE), and B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS). This group of stocks belong to the processed & packaged goods industry and their market caps are similar to JJSF’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| The Hain Celestial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAIN) | 20 | 1 | 1 |
| Gruma S.A.B. de C.V. (ADR) (NYSE:GMK) | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| TreeHouse Foods Inc. (NYSE:THS) | 11 | 0 | 6 |
| Snyder S Lance Inc (NASDAQ:LNCE) | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE:BGS) | 9 | 0 | 4 |
With the returns demonstrated by our research, retail investors must always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and J&J Snack Foods Corp. (NASDAQ:JJSF) is no exception.
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