Stephens Lowers Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Price Target to $196.00

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) had its target price dropped by Stephens from $200.00 to $196.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Stephens’ price target points to a potential upside of 8.61% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on LANC. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $236.00 to $232.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LANC opened at $180.47 on Friday. Lancaster Colony has a 1 year low of $161.54 and a 1 year high of $215.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $177.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.67.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The company had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. The trade was a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Lancaster Colony

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LANC. State of Michigan Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 5,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 0.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 25,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,309,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 15.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 18,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony in the first quarter valued at approximately $864,000. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $245,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

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.