New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,224 shares of the company’s stock after selling 423 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $4,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lancaster Colony news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total value of $232,540.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $196.10 on Monday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $158.88 and a 12 month high of $220.65. The company has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of 41.90 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $200.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.43.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.27. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The business had revenue of $485.92 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.00 million. Research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Stephens downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.75.

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.