Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Bought by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 174.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 20,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,160 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $3,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,472,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 115.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 177 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,118 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 2nd quarter worth $304,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on LANC shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.67.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 1.1 %

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $184.60 on Thursday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $161.54 and a 52 week high of $215.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of 31.94 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08). Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company 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. This is an increase from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

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.