Stephens Lowers Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Price Target to $160.00

Key Points

• Stephens cut its price target for Marzetti from $180 to $160 and maintained an "equal weight" rating, with the new target implying roughly a 25% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment has softened: MarketBeat shows a consensus Hold (one Buy, three Holds) with an average target of $176, while DA Davidson lowered its target to $168 and Wall Street Zen downgraded to Hold.
• Shares traded at $127.82, below both the 50‑day ($148.27) and 200‑day ($159.77) moving averages, after a quarter where EPS missed estimates; institutional investors own 66.44% and several large funds added stakes in Q4.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Stephens from $180.00 to $160.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Stephens' target price suggests a potential upside of 25.18% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Marzetti in a report on Friday, January 9th. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Marzetti from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $176.00.

Marzetti Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MZTI traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $127.82. 36,477 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 247,195. Marzetti has a 12 month low of $124.25 and a 12 month high of $193.25. The company's 50 day moving average price is $148.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 0.47.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $509.77 million for the quarter. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 9.25%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Marzetti

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MZTI. M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at $367,969,000. State Street Corp bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at $160,722,000. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at $111,778,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at $103,681,000. Institutional investors own 66.44% of the company's stock.

Marzetti Company 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.

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