Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 15,558 Shares of The Marzetti Company $MZTI

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) by 176.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,390 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,558 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.09% of Marzetti worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MZTI. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in Marzetti by 2.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Marzetti by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in Marzetti by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,323 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Marzetti by 2.5% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Marzetti by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 4,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Stephens decreased their target price on Marzetti from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marzetti currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.25.

Marzetti Trading Up 6.3%

MZTI opened at $189.18 on Friday. The Marzetti Company has a 1-year low of $156.14 and a 1-year high of $202.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $174.17 and a 200-day moving average of $176.96.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $475.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.26 million. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.99% and a net margin of 8.77%.Marzetti’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Marzetti Company will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.79%.

Marzetti 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.