Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,774 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.19% of Lancaster Colony worth $8,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $442,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 29.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $191.15 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $163.20 and a fifty-two week high of $209.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.16. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.59 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

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.