Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.08 EPS

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $180.47 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $177.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $184.67. Lancaster Colony has a 52-week low of $161.54 and a 52-week high of $215.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 9th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.28%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stephens reduced their target price on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $169.00 per share, for a total transaction of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $895,362. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

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.