Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on MZTI. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Marzetti from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.33.

Marzetti Trading Up 1.4%

MZTI opened at $173.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $166.77 and its 200-day moving average is $171.26. Marzetti has a 1-year low of $152.95 and a 1-year high of $198.39.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.01. Marzetti had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The company had revenue of $482.78 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Marzetti will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marzetti

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,969,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Marzetti by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 873,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,890,000 after buying an additional 153,052 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Marzetti by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 344,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,537,000 after buying an additional 44,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,196,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.