Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 274 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Yousif Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $1,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LANC. Trust Point Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth $294,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,853,000 after acquiring an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth approximately $630,000. Milestone Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $963,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LANC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ LANC opened at $193.93 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $177.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $180.97. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $163.20 and a 52 week high of $209.81. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Lancaster Colony 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.