Naples Global Advisors LLC Purchases 175 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Naples Global Advisors LLC lifted its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 7.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,685 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Naples Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. KBC Group NV raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth approximately $294,000. Choreo LLC bought a new position in Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth approximately $255,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,281,000 after acquiring an additional 2,559 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 0.5%

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $167.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $173.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $178.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.63 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51 and a beta of 0.47. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12-month low of $156.14 and a 12-month high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.07). Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $457.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Lancaster Colony’s revenue was down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 61.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on LANC. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Benchmark upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

About Lancaster Colony

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.