AlphaQuest LLC Sells 6,857 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 90.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 723 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,857 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC's holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,604 shares of the company's stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,219,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 11,687 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock traded up $1.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $175.33. 735,944 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 129,395. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.25. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12-month low of $163.20 and a 12-month high of $209.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.81 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony's payout ratio is presently 66.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

About Lancaster Colony

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.