Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by investment analysts at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $196.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens’ target price indicates a potential upside of 9.19% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of LANC opened at $179.50 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $181.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $184.73. Lancaster Colony has a 12 month low of $161.54 and a 12 month high of $215.31. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.06 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at $895,362. This represents a 130.55 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 115.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the second quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

About Lancaster Colony

Lancaster Colony Corporation engages in the manufacturing and marketing of specialty food products for the retail and foodservice channels in the United States. It operates in two segments, Retail and Foodservice. The company offers frozen garlic bread under the New York BRAND Bakery; frozen Parkerhouse style yeast and dinner rolls under the Sister Schubert's brand; salad dressings under the Marzetti, Simply Dressed, Cardini's, and Girard's brands; vegetable and fruit dips under the Marzetti brand; croutons and salad toppings under the New York BRAND Bakery, Chatham Village, and Marzetti brands; and frozen pasta under the Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand.