Lancaster Colony’s (LANC) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on LANC. Stephens lowered their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $186.38 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $181.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $184.68. Lancaster Colony has a 12-month low of $161.54 and a 12-month high of $215.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 0.35.

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

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen purchased 3,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at $895,362. This trade represents a 130.55 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2,386.6% during the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 172,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,517,000 after purchasing an additional 165,155 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4,189.1% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 163,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,922,000 after purchasing an additional 159,981 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,186,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,913,000 after purchasing an additional 85,658 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 243.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,767,000 after purchasing an additional 59,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, F M Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the second quarter worth $7,997,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

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.