Marzetti’s (MZTI) “Equal Weight” Rating Reiterated at Stephens

Stephens reaffirmed their equal weight rating on shares of Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $190.00 price objective on the stock.

Separately, Benchmark upped their target price on Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.00.

Marzetti Trading Up 2.6%

Shares of MZTI stock opened at $185.29 on Thursday. Marzetti has a twelve month low of $156.14 and a twelve month high of $202.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.53 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.22.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.02. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $475.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Marzetti will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

Institutional Trading of Marzetti

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its holdings in shares of Marzetti by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 2,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its position in Marzetti by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 3,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Marzetti by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,323 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Marzetti by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Significant Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Marzetti by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Marzetti 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.