Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 834 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,427 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,455 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 38,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,584,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after buying an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 23.9% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 4,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $785,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter valued at $318,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 1.4 %

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $180.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.64 and a beta of 0.31. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1 year low of $163.20 and a 1 year high of $209.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $181.15 and a 200-day moving average of $181.08.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.