DA Davidson Issues Positive Forecast for Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Stock Price

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) had its target price raised by DA Davidson from $192.00 to $207.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also commented on LANC. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given 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 price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $186.58 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $177.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.87. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $209.81.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted 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. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 25.1% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $843,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 1,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4,189.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 163,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,922,000 after acquiring an additional 159,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

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.