Champlain Investment Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 18.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 444,023 shares of the company's stock after selling 98,282 shares during the quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 1.61% of Lancaster Colony worth $76,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LANC. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 410 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 48.4% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 724 shares of the company's stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LANC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens upped their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LANC traded up $2.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $192.59. The company had a trading volume of 40,369 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,914. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52-week low of $163.20 and a 52-week high of $202.63. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.87 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $183.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.62.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

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.