Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 8.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 4.0 %

NASDAQ:LANC traded up $6.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $180.47. 277,923 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 130,296. Lancaster Colony has a 12 month low of $161.54 and a 12 month high of $215.31. The stock has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $177.00 and a 200 day moving average of $184.81.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 9th were issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is 62.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on LANC. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Stephens decreased their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Loop Capital cut their target price on Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

Insider Transactions at Lancaster Colony

In other news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 29.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Lancaster Colony

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.