Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Shares Sold by Atom Investors LP

Atom Investors LP trimmed its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 69.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,474 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LANC. V Square Quantitative Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Lancaster Colony during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 115.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LANC. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.67.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $186.63 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1-year low of $161.54 and a 1-year high of $215.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.36 and a 200-day moving average of $184.12.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08). Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.36 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. This is a positive change from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is currently 62.28%.

Lancaster Colony 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.