Welch & Forbes LLC Takes Position in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

Welch & Forbes LLC purchased a new stake in The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 72,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,928,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $5,101,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $1,368,000. Huntington National Bank bought a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $102,000. Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $103,681,000. Finally, ICW Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth $566,000. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings lowered Marzetti from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price objective on Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

Marzetti Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ MZTI opened at $111.94 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $128.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.96. The Marzetti Company has a 12 month low of $110.31 and a 12 month high of $190.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 17.52 and a beta of 0.38.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. Marzetti’s payout ratio is 62.60%.

Marzetti 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.