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

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%.

Lancaster Colony has increased 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 35 years. Lancaster Colony has a payout ratio of 53.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Lancaster Colony to earn $7.25 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 52.4%.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of LANC traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $191.70. The company had a trading volume of 184,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 155,599. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a 52-week low of $163.20 and a 52-week high of $209.81. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $177.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.90.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lancaster Colony will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LANC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens lifted their price target on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

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.