Cibc World Markets Corp Acquires Shares of 1,830 Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LANC. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after buying an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $175.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1 year low of $163.20 and a 1 year high of $209.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $182.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.37.

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

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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