State of Michigan Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,932 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $204.17 on Monday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $158.88 and a 12 month high of $220.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50 day moving average is $199.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $179.28.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.27. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company had revenue of $485.92 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $489.00 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lancaster Colony news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction of $232,540.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 29.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens cut shares of Lancaster Colony from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.75.

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.