Inspire Investing LLC Grows Holdings in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,273 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 319 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Marzetti were worth $393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Marzetti by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. raised its position in shares of Marzetti by 46.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 6,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Marzetti by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 52,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,176,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Marzetti by 146.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,677,000 after acquiring an additional 19,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Marzetti by 20.9% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on MZTI. Benchmark upped their price target on Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Marzetti in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Marzetti currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $206.00.

Marzetti Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MZTI opened at $163.99 on Tuesday. The Marzetti Company has a 1 year low of $156.14 and a 1 year high of $202.63. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $177.46 and a 200-day moving average of $174.42.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 8.77%.The company had revenue of $475.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Marzetti Company will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were paid a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.60%.

About Marzetti

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.