Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 26.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 415,629 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,994 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned 1.51% of Lancaster Colony worth $69,157,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,599 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,587 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 25,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 23,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,922,000 after acquiring an additional 921 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 125,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 19,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 108,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LANC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $218.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.75.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of LANC opened at $191.50 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.73 and a beta of 0.39. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $158.88 and a 12 month high of $220.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $199.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.30.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $471.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.69%.

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony 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 transaction of $232,540.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.60% of the company’s stock.

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.