Wellington Management Group LLP Decreases Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Wellington Management Group LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 87.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,771 shares of the company’s stock after selling 72,859 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $1,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Lancaster Colony by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $474,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,000. Blair William & Co. IL raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 192,051 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,252,000 after buying an additional 5,916 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,342,000 after buying an additional 38,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,908,000 after buying an additional 30,987 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LANC shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Stephens upped 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $183.76 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $163.20 and a one year high of $202.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.30 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.17.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $509.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.87 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. This represents a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company 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.