Bank of America Corp DE Has $17.90 Million Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 103,391 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,171 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $17,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LANC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $78,000 after buying an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 724 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 62.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $165,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LANC shares. Benchmark upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $203.50.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $167.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $176.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.69. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.43 and a beta of 0.50. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52-week low of $156.14 and a 52-week high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.61 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $457.84 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.47 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 down 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.79%.

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.