D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Buys Shares of 28,359 Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 28,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,910,000. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 0.10% of Lancaster Colony at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,200,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $380,908,000 after purchasing an additional 30,987 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 561,913 shares of the company's stock valued at $97,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,690 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 510,470 shares of the company's stock valued at $88,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 305,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,853,000 after purchasing an additional 52,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Lancaster Colony by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 290,133 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,234,000 after purchasing an additional 28,965 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company's stock.

Lancaster Colony Price Performance

LANC stock traded up $1.96 on Friday, reaching $164.00. 156,567 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 147,786. Lancaster Colony Co. has a one year low of $156.14 and a one year high of $202.63. The company has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.21.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by ($0.07). Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 19.51%. The company had revenue of $457.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $483.47 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Lancaster Colony Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.95 per share. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LANC. Wall Street Zen lowered Lancaster Colony from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Benchmark raised Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $185.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens decreased their target price on Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Lancaster Colony from $192.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $203.50.

Lancaster Colony 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.