Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $471.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 6.92% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LANC traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $191.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 149,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 137,140. Lancaster Colony has a 1-year low of $158.88 and a 1-year high of $220.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.30. The stock has a market cap of $5.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 0.39.

Lancaster Colony Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Lancaster Colony's dividend payout ratio is 76.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lancaster Colony news, insider Kristin Bird sold 1,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.66, for a total transaction of $232,540.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,546 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $683,172.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 29.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on LANC shares. StockNews.com upgraded Lancaster Colony from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Stephens reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $218.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lancaster Colony has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $198.75.

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.

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