Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.95

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.95 per share on Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from Lancaster Colony’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90.

Lancaster Colony has raised its dividend by an average of 6.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 61 consecutive years. Lancaster Colony has a payout ratio of 54.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Lancaster Colony to earn $7.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 49.7%.

Lancaster Colony Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LANC opened at $200.28 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $178.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 34.65 and a beta of 0.35. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $161.54 and a fifty-two week high of $215.31.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $466.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $468.36 million. Lancaster Colony had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 8.49%. The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Lancaster Colony will post 6.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Lancaster Colony news, Director Elliot K. Fullen bought 3,000 shares of Lancaster Colony stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $169.00 per share, for a total transaction of $507,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $895,362. This represents a 100.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 29.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Lancaster Colony from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Loop Capital reduced their target price 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, November 1st. Finally, Stephens reduced their target price on shares of Lancaster Colony from $200.00 to $196.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.50.

Lancaster Colony 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.