Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,258 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Lancaster Colony by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,227,000 after acquiring an additional 14,864 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 285,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,168 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,027,000 after purchasing an additional 9,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 158,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,366,000 after buying an additional 13,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 1.9 %

Lancaster Colony stock opened at $177.53 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $209.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $181.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $180.93. The company has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a PE ratio of 31.20 and a beta of 0.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lancaster Colony 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.