Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires 100 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,400 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,227,000 after purchasing an additional 14,864 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in 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 period. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in 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 period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stephens increased 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 2.7 %

LANC stock opened at $188.63 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $180.91. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $209.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.15 and a beta of 0.35.

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 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 business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 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.