Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Stock Position Reduced by Invesco Ltd.

Invesco Ltd. decreased its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 9.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 188,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,072 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.69% of Lancaster Colony worth $32,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,908,000 after acquiring an additional 30,987 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,690 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,518,000 after buying an additional 5,168 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 231,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,156,000 after buying an additional 9,411 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LANC has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of LANC stock opened at $189.03 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $202.63. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50 day moving average is $183.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.36.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. Lancaster Colony’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

Lancaster Colony Company 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.