First Merchants Corp Takes Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

First Merchants Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $782,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 6.1% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,559,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $519,187,000 after acquiring an additional 147,890 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,443,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,271,000 after purchasing an additional 410,104 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,079,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,518,000 after buying an additional 14,711 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 12.5% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,307,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,795,000 after buying an additional 145,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 596,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,411,000 after purchasing an additional 56,787 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stephens lowered Lancaster Colony from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.75.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In related news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total value of $232,540.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,546 shares in the company, valued at $683,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock opened at $204.17 on Monday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $158.88 and a twelve month high of $220.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $199.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.28. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 43.63 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $485.92 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.00 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 17.37% and a net margin of 6.92%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.47 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.92%.

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.