Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $193.50.

LANC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens dropped their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $895,362. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 15.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 7.1% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,595 shares of the company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.3% during the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 17,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,700,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 15.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 3,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 23.3% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 5,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $192.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $180.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.00. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.31 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $161.54 and a fifty-two week high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This is a boost from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

About Lancaster Colony

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.