Swiss National Bank Boosts Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,026 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $6,584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after buying an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,518,000 after buying an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

LANC stock opened at $175.33 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $163.20 and a one year high of $209.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.35.

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

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.