Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Issues Earnings Results

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 18.96% and a net margin of 7.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $191.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 149,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 135,980. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $199.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.30. The company has a market capitalization of $5.27 billion, a PE ratio of 39.73 and a beta of 0.39. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $158.88 and a fifty-two week high of $220.65.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Lancaster Colony’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 74.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction of $232,540.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,546 shares in the company, valued at $683,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 29.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LANC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $218.00 target price on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $198.75.

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.