John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBSS) shares saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 99,046 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 80,830 shares.The stock last traded at $74.37 and had previously closed at $74.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on JBSS shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.00.

John B. Sanfilippo & Son Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 2.30 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $869.62 million, a PE ratio of 13.05 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.22.

John B. Sanfilippo & Son (NASDAQ:JBSS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $281.78 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.83 million. John B. Sanfilippo & Son had a net margin of 5.76% and a return on equity of 18.11%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. will post 5.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John B. Sanfilippo & Son Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a special dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 27th were paid a dividend of $1.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 27th. John B. Sanfilippo & Son’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.79%.

Institutional Trading of John B. Sanfilippo & Son

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son by 4.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 312,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,815,000 after buying an additional 12,056 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 256,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,111,000 after buying an additional 47,559 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP increased its stake in shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 249,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,584,000 after buying an additional 6,170 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 204,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,425,000 after buying an additional 32,800 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of John B. Sanfilippo & Son by 2.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 152,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,820,000 after buying an additional 3,866 shares during the period. 70.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About John B. Sanfilippo & Son

John B. Sanfilippo & Son, Inc is a family‐held processor and marketer of tree nuts and snack nut products. Headquartered in Elgin, Illinois, the company operates manufacturing facilities, processing plants and sales offices across the United States and abroad. It supplies a broad range of channels, including retail, foodservice, industrial and private‐label customers.

The company’s product portfolio spans in‐shell and shelled pecans, walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios and peanuts, as well as mixed‐nut blends, chocolate‐covered treats, granolas and specialty snack items.