Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 243.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,767,000 after buying an additional 59,261 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,558,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 125.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 24,589 shares during the period. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,853,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $180.48 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.33. The firm has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.72 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12-month low of $163.20 and a 12-month high of $209.08.

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

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 66.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LANC. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted 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, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.