Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Announces $0.95 Quarterly Dividend

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 14th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share on Monday, June 30th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%.

Lancaster Colony has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 62 years. Lancaster Colony has a dividend payout ratio of 53.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lancaster Colony to earn $7.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.0%.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of LANC stock opened at $165.48 on Thursday. Lancaster Colony has a 12-month low of $156.14 and a 12-month high of $202.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.08 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $178.17 and its 200 day moving average is $181.15.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $457.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.47 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LANC shares. Stephens cut their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

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.