HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases 873 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 23.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,532 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 873 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $785,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 14.2% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Lancaster Colony during the third quarter worth about $220,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 174.5% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 20,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,655,000 after acquiring an additional 13,160 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $176.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $182.72 and its 200 day moving average is $181.29. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01 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.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS 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 $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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