Vanguard Group Inc. Has $349.50 Million Stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,100,504 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,427 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 7.63% of Lancaster Colony worth $349,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 54.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 319,366 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,139,000 after acquiring an additional 112,696 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 415,629 shares of the company's stock valued at $69,157,000 after acquiring an additional 86,994 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 72.6% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 86,280 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,356,000 after acquiring an additional 36,291 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 57,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,534,000 after acquiring an additional 22,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 125,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,850,000 after acquiring an additional 19,016 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on LANC. Stephens reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $218.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $198.75.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

NASDAQ:LANC traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $188.97. 403,086 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 89,426. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $188.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $188.14. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $158.88 and a 52 week high of $215.31. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.21 and a beta of 0.37.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The firm had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $467.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio is presently 74.69%.

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.