Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Price Target Raised to $207.00

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) had its price target increased by DA Davidson from $192.00 to $207.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LANC. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $191.70 on Monday. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $163.20 and a fifty-two week high of $209.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.69 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.90.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.78%.

Institutional Trading of Lancaster Colony

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,308,000 after buying an additional 5,690 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,853,000 after acquiring an additional 52,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after acquiring an additional 9,861 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.