The Marzetti Company $MZTI Shares Acquired by Inspire Investing LLC

Inspire Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,273 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 319 shares during the quarter. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Marzetti were worth $393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MZTI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Marzetti during the 1st quarter worth about $60,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Marzetti by 1,350.0% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 377 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MZTI. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Marzetti from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Marzetti in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marzetti currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $206.00.

Marzetti Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MZTI opened at $163.99 on Tuesday. The Marzetti Company has a 1 year low of $156.14 and a 1 year high of $202.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $177.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.42.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.02. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.87% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $475.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $455.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that The Marzetti Company will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Marzetti Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 8th were issued a dividend of $0.95 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 8th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Marzetti’s payout ratio is presently 62.60%.

Marzetti 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.