Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 285,999 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $49,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock opened at $177.53 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $209.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $181.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.93.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on LANC. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony 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.