Leeward Investments LLC MA Sells 1,635 Shares of The Marzetti Company $MZTI

Leeward Investments LLC MA reduced its position in The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,449 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,635 shares during the period. Leeward Investments LLC MA’s holdings in Marzetti were worth $7,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 2.5% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 2.5% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 8.2% in the second quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 2.2% in the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 4,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Marzetti in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.00.

Marzetti Stock Performance

Shares of MZTI stock opened at $166.54 on Monday. The Marzetti Company has a fifty-two week low of $156.14 and a fifty-two week high of $202.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.44 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.86.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $475.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $455.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Marzetti Company will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marzetti’s payout ratio is presently 62.60%.

Marzetti 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.