Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC Has $40.16 Million Stock Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 231,927 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,411 shares during the quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC owned approximately 0.84% of Lancaster Colony worth $40,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,690 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,853,000 after buying an additional 52,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.8% during 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. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 213,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,027,000 after purchasing an additional 9,861 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity 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 shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,447,386.36. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stephens boosted 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Down 0.9 %

LANC traded down $1.56 during trading on Thursday, hitting $179.70. The company had a trading volume of 85,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,702. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $183.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.11. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $163.20 and a one year high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Lancaster Colony's payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

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.