Retirement Systems of Alabama Cuts Position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,734 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $4,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Lancaster Colony by 35.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 3,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the third quarter valued at $272,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,227,000 after purchasing an additional 14,864 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Lancaster Colony by 125.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 44,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 24,589 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $196.00 target price on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd.

Lancaster Colony Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of LANC stock opened at $182.56 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $184.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.33. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 52 week low of $161.54 and a 52 week high of $215.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The company 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 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be issued a $0.95 dividend. This is an increase from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.