Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning.

Separately, Stephens reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $218.00 price target on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $198.75.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $191.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.82 and a beta of 0.39. Lancaster Colony has a 52-week low of $158.88 and a 52-week high of $218.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $198.87 and its 200-day moving average is $182.56.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.10%. The firm had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is 74.69%.

Insider Activity

In other Lancaster Colony news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter valued at $67,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth about $70,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter worth about $129,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 92,700.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% 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.