FreeGulliver LLC Takes $225,000 Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

FreeGulliver LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 62.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after acquiring an additional 357 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 1.5 %

LANC stock opened at $180.48 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.72 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $209.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $181.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.33.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is 66.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LANC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

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.