Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Has $8.56 Million Stake in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,954 shares during the period. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $8,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LANC. Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its stake in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,853,000 after acquiring an additional 52,030 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth $8,558,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 100,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,342,000 after purchasing an additional 38,583 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 30,987 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 125.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,803,000 after buying an additional 24,589 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock opened at $189.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $183.95 and its 200 day moving average is $181.36. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 1 year low of $163.20 and a 1 year high of $202.63.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. The company 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%. Lancaster Colony’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Insider Activity at Lancaster Colony

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

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.