Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC Sells 5,954 Shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC trimmed its holdings in Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 49,463 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,954 shares during the quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC owned about 0.18% of Lancaster Colony worth $8,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 280 shares of the company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 1,078.9% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 448 shares of the company's stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Lancaster Colony by 48.4% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 724 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 893 shares of the company's stock worth $155,000 after purchasing an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lancaster Colony

In related news, CEO David Alan Ciesinski sold 17,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,250,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,644 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,447,386.36. This trade represents a 23.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Lancaster Colony from $196.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $211.33.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

Lancaster Colony stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $190.25. The stock had a trading volume of 69,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 138,290. Lancaster Colony Co. has a twelve month low of $163.20 and a twelve month high of $202.63. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44 and a beta of 0.38. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $183.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.68.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.28. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.51% and a net margin of 8.26%. The business had revenue of $509.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $495.43 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Lancaster Colony's revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.95 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Lancaster Colony's payout ratio is 66.78%.

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.