Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.08 EPS

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.70 by ($0.08), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $466.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 8.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.70 EPS.

Lancaster Colony Trading Up 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LANC opened at $180.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.98 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $177.14 and a 200 day moving average of $184.71. Lancaster Colony has a 12-month low of $161.54 and a 12-month high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 9th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Lancaster Colony’s payout ratio is currently 62.61%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $169.00 per share, with a total value of $507,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,298 shares in the company, valued at approximately $895,362. This trade represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LANC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens dropped their price target on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Lancaster Colony from $232.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $193.50.

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.