SRS Capital Advisors Inc. Has $201,000 Stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

SRS Capital Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,159 shares of the company’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,277,000 after buying an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,027,000 after purchasing an additional 9,861 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,355,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 21,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 5,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

NASDAQ LANC opened at $191.23 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $179.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $163.20 and a fifty-two week high of $209.08.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.