Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $766,000 Stock Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 834 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $766,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens boosted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $180.02 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.08. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $163.20 and a one year high of $209.08. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.64 and a beta of 0.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 66.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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.