Loop Capital Cuts Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Price Target to $227.00

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) had its price target reduced by Loop Capital from $232.00 to $227.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock.

LANC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com cut shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of LANC traded up $6.87 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $180.47. The stock had a trading volume of 277,923 shares, compared to its average volume of 130,296. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $184.71. Lancaster Colony has a one year low of $161.54 and a one year high of $215.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 8.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $169.00 per share, for a total transaction of $507,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $895,362. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2,386.6% during the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 172,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,517,000 after purchasing an additional 165,155 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4,189.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 163,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,922,000 after purchasing an additional 159,981 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,186,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,913,000 after purchasing an additional 85,658 shares during the last quarter. F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,997,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,055.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 36,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,820,000 after purchasing an additional 32,966 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.