Lancaster Colony Co. (LANC) To Go Ex-Dividend on December 5th

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 0.95 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. This is a boost from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90.

Lancaster Colony has increased its dividend by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 62 years. Lancaster Colony has a dividend payout ratio of 57.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Lancaster Colony to earn $7.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 52.4%.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock opened at $187.30 on Tuesday. Lancaster Colony has a 12-month low of $161.54 and a 12-month high of $215.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $184.16.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.49% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on LANC. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.67.

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.