Sei Investments Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Sei Investments Co. lowered its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,817 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,258 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 54.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 45,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,016,000 after acquiring an additional 16,074 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the 3rd quarter worth about $438,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 37.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 10,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after buying an additional 2,942 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 12,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,219,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 243.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,767,000 after buying an additional 59,261 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their target price on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $179.80 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $183.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.25. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1-year low of $163.20 and a 1-year high of $205.41.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) 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. The company had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.87 EPS. Analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lancaster Colony news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 29.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.