Alberta Investment Management Corp Purchases 5,800 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its position in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Lancaster Colony were worth $3,774,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Lancaster Colony by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 556,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,227,000 after buying an additional 14,864 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 4.0% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 111,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,306 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 59,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 61,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,873,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on LANC shares. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $211.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 29.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

LANC stock opened at $191.61 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $178.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.05. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $163.20 and a 12 month high of $209.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.67 and a beta of 0.35.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.43 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.78%.

Lancaster Colony 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.