Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Holdings Raised by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,100,504 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,427 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 7.63% of Lancaster Colony worth $349,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 396.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,380,000 after buying an additional 11,517 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 17,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,925,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Lancaster Colony by 87.6% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Lancaster Colony by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 2,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LANC shares. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $218.00 target price on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.75.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $188.97 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $158.88 and a fifty-two week high of $215.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $188.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $188.01. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21 and a beta of 0.37.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is 74.69%.

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.