Welch & Forbes LLC Buys 2,870 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,226 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC owned approximately 0.26% of Lancaster Colony worth $12,018,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 4,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 5,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 25,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,243,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 4,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $821,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $218.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $198.75.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ LANC traded up $1.88 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $193.79. 167,669 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 137,339. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.21 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $198.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $182.56. Lancaster Colony Co. has a 12 month low of $158.88 and a 12 month high of $218.96.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.10%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In other Lancaster Colony news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction of $232,540.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 3,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.