Marzetti’s (MZTI) “Equal Weight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens reissued their equal weight rating on shares of Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) in a research note published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $190.00 target price on the stock.

Separately, Benchmark lifted their target price on Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Marzetti presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.00.

Marzetti Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of Marzetti stock opened at $185.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $177.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $176.22. Marzetti has a twelve month low of $156.14 and a twelve month high of $202.63.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $475.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.26 million. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 8.77%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Marzetti will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Marzetti during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Marzetti during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the first quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 1,350.0% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

About Marzetti

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.