Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) Short Interest Update

Lancaster Colony Co. (NASDAQ:LANC) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 609,700 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the April 15th total of 647,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 127,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Lancaster Colony Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Lancaster Colony stock traded down $2.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $190.41. 14,970 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 132,373. Lancaster Colony has a fifty-two week low of $158.88 and a fifty-two week high of $215.31. The company has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.95 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $197.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $183.87.

Lancaster Colony (NASDAQ:LANC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.42 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $471.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $467.90 million. Lancaster Colony had a net margin of 7.10% and a return on equity of 18.96%. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Lancaster Colony will post 6.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LANC. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $218.00 price objective on shares of Lancaster Colony in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Lancaster Colony from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Lancaster Colony currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $198.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of LANC. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Lancaster Colony in the fourth quarter worth about $67,000. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Lancaster Colony by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Lancaster Colony during the 4th quarter worth approximately $129,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Lancaster Colony by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 894 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

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.