London Co. of Virginia Buys New Position in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

London Co. of Virginia bought a new stake in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 365,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,015,000. London Co. of Virginia owned approximately 1.33% of Marzetti as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marzetti

In other news, insider Luis Viso sold 1,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.31, for a total transaction of $133,467.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $210,312.44. This trade represents a 38.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 29.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Marzetti Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Marzetti stock opened at $108.92 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $121.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $146.60. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.33. The Marzetti Company has a 1 year low of $105.80 and a 1 year high of $190.96.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MZTI. Weiss Ratings lowered Marzetti from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stephens decreased their price target on Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.33.

About Marzetti

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.