Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Purchases Shares of 7,825 Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 7,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,355,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Lancaster Colony by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Lancaster Colony by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,652,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 51,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,964,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on LANC. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stephens raised their price objective 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. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In related 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 transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $190.49 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $178.27 and a 200-day moving average of $181.03. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $209.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 33.48 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

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.