Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Stock Position Trimmed by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,659 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the third quarter worth $27,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the second quarter worth about $74,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the second quarter worth about $113,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olympiad Research LP acquired a new position in Lancaster Colony during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $196.00 price target on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $182.56 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $184.82 and a 200-day moving average of $184.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $161.54 and a twelve month high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $466.56 million for 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is a positive change from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

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.