Lancaster Colony’s (LANC) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on LANC. Stephens dropped their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital decreased 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. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 0.1 %

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $179.50 on Tuesday. Lancaster Colony has a 1-year low of $161.54 and a 1-year high of $215.31. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.06 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $181.11 and a 200-day moving average of $184.73.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. The trade was a 130.55 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lancaster Colony

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 85,658 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,227,000 after buying an additional 14,864 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25,072 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 5.5% in the second 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of 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 worth $45,664,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.