Lancaster Colony’s (LANC) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports.

LANC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

LANC stock opened at $186.38 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $181.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.68. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $161.54 and a fifty-two week high of $215.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The firm had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.36 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is 62.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $169.00 per share, for a total transaction of $507,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $895,362. This trade represents a 130.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Consolidated Planning Corp raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 1,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.