MGO One Seven LLC Acquires 577 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,116 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter worth about $630,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 24.1% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after purchasing an additional 9,861 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $49,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter worth about $318,000. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock opened at $189.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a PE ratio of 33.34 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.00. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (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%. Lancaster Colony’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 66.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LANC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on 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 upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.