Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Given “Hold” Rating at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their hold rating on shares of Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital dropped 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 shares of Lancaster Colony from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $195.75.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $179.29 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.06. The company has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.20 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a 1 year low of $160.01 and a 1 year high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $452.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $462.70 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.47% and a return on equity of 19.61%. Equities analysts expect that Lancaster Colony will post 6.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 9th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $169.00 per share, for a total transaction of $507,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $895,362. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 85,658 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 520,335 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,326,000 after purchasing an additional 25,072 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 306,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,840,000 after purchasing an additional 15,962 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 241,646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,664,000 after purchasing an additional 4,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 2,386.6% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

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.