London Co. of Virginia Buys 12,500 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

London Co. of Virginia raised its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 450,493 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,500 shares during the period. London Co. of Virginia owned about 1.63% of Lancaster Colony worth $77,998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 48.4% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Benchmark raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stephens cut their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. 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, Lancaster Colony has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $166.60 on Monday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1-year low of $156.14 and a 1-year high of $202.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $179.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28 and a beta of 0.50.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.07). Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $457.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $483.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 61.79%.

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.