Lancaster Colony’s (LANC) Hold Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

LANC has been the topic of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens dropped their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $180.04 on Tuesday. Lancaster Colony has a 1-year low of $161.54 and a 1-year high of $215.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $180.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $184.90.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. This trade represents a 130.55 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Lancaster Colony

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,227,000 after purchasing an additional 14,864 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 125.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 24,589 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 9,914 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,751,000 after buying an additional 549 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 9.0% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 15,750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,781,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.