Bridgewater Associates LP Cuts Stock Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Bridgewater Associates LP lessened its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 66.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,238 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 70.8% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,691,000 after buying an additional 11,016 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 45,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,016,000 after purchasing an additional 16,074 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $447,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 28.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 22,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,986,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 174.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 20,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,655,000 after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price target 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. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.67.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

LANC opened at $185.84 on Monday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $161.54 and a one year high of $215.31. The company has a market cap of $5.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.15 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.19.

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

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This is an increase from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.28%.

Lancaster Colony Company Profile

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.