Wells Fargo & Company MN Grows Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 22.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,719 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,675 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.07% of Lancaster Colony worth $3,414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on 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 issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 29.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LANC opened at $191.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $183.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.68. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59 and a beta of 0.38.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

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.