Aviva PLC Makes New $969,000 Investment in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Aviva PLC bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC – Get Rating) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,911 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $969,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.3% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 17,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,555,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 3.4% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial Strategies Inc. now owns 4,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.69% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.00.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $207.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.61 and a beta of 0.22. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $116.85 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $205.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $199.94.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $464.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $443.08 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 16.13%. The firm’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 9th will be paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Lancaster Colony Company Profile

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Lancaster Colony Corp. engages in the manufacture and sale of specialty food products. It operates through the following segments: Retail and Foodservice. The Retail and Foodservice segments both focus on the manufacture and sale of frozen breads, refrigerated dressings, dips and shelf-stable dressings, and croutons under the brand names New York BRAND Bakery, Sister Schubert’s, Marzetti Frozen Pasta, and Flatout.