Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Holdings Lowered by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 498 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $86,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,227,000 after buying an additional 14,864 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 111,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 243.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,767,000 after purchasing an additional 59,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LANC has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Stephens lifted their price objective 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 lowered their price objective 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $194.81 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.06. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $163.20 and a fifty-two week high of $209.81.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

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.