Brokerages Set Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) PT at $193.50

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $193.50.

LANC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens lowered their price target 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, November 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.5 %

LANC opened at $197.21 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.95. Lancaster Colony has a 52 week low of $161.54 and a 52 week high of $215.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. Lancaster Colony’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This is a boost from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 62.28%.

Insider Activity

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $895,362. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lancaster Colony

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LANC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 115.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Lancaster Colony in the second quarter worth $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.