Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Bought by Blair William & Co. IL

Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 192,051 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,916 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.70% of Lancaster Colony worth $33,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter worth about $630,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,027,000 after acquiring an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $176.44 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.29. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $163.20 and a 52 week high of $209.08.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $509.30 million for 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%. Lancaster Colony’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued 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 2.15%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LANC shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens upped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.