California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,411 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.36% of Lancaster Colony worth $17,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LANC. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in 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. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 62.1% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

LANC opened at $179.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.22. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52-week low of $163.20 and a 52-week high of $206.05.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 66.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Lancaster Colony Company 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.