Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Lowers Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 413,838 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,201 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $71,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $717,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on LANC shares. Stephens boosted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 1.9 %

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $177.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $180.93. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52-week low of $163.20 and a 52-week high of $209.08.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.78%.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.