Stephens Lowers Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Price Target to $196.00

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) had its price objective lowered by Stephens from $200.00 to $196.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on LANC. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $236.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 3.8 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $187.32 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $177.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.69. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.41 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a 52 week low of $161.54 and a 52 week high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08). Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is currently 62.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 2,386.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 172,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,517,000 after buying an additional 165,155 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4,189.1% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 163,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,922,000 after acquiring an additional 159,981 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,186,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,913,000 after acquiring an additional 85,658 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC acquired a new position in Lancaster Colony in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $7,997,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1,055.2% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 32,966 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

About Lancaster Colony

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.