Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys 594 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 41.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $350,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LANC. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 12,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,271,000 after purchasing an additional 3,686 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 2,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 3rd quarter valued at $210,000. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 1,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted 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. StockNews.com raised shares of 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, Stephens boosted 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

LANC opened at $192.49 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a fifty-two week low of $163.20 and a fifty-two week high of $209.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $180.26 and its 200 day moving average is $180.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83 and a beta of 0.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. Lancaster Colony’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.