Blair William & Co. IL Purchases 5,916 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 192,051 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,916 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $33,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after acquiring an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 29.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $176.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $209.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $182.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.29.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

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.