Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Invests $790,000 in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $790,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,853,000 after buying an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 89.1% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 105,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,277,000 after acquiring an additional 49,734 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $8,558,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 62.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,342,000 after purchasing an additional 38,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 3.5 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $165.25 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $179.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.29. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $156.14 and a 52 week high of $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04 and a beta of 0.50.

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

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.79%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LANC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens dropped their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.