Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Receives $198.75 Average PT from Brokerages

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $198.75.

Separately, Stephens downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of LANC stock opened at $196.11 on Thursday. Lancaster Colony has a one year low of $158.88 and a one year high of $220.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $200.12 and its 200 day moving average is $180.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.90 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.66 by $0.27. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $485.92 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.00 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 76.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction of $232,540.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,559,086 shares of the company’s stock worth $519,187,000 after purchasing an additional 147,890 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,443,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,271,000 after acquiring an additional 410,104 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,100,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,503,000 after acquiring an additional 19,427 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,307,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,795,000 after acquiring an additional 145,560 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 10.5% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 596,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,411,000 after buying an additional 56,787 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.