Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 24.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,177 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,559 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $2,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 243.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 83,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,767,000 after purchasing an additional 59,261 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 125.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 24,589 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,853,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Lancaster Colony by 336.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 18,030 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LANC shares. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target 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 raised shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,250,230.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at $10,447,386.36. The trade was a 23.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of LANC stock opened at $194.81 on Friday. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $209.81. The stock has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.24 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $178.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.05.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. Lancaster Colony’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.87 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is 66.78%.

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.