The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) to Issue Dividend of $1.00

The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) declared a dividend on Wednesday, November 19th, NASDAQ Dividends reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th will be given a dividend of 1.00 per share on Wednesday, December 31st. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 5th.

Marzetti has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 62 years. Marzetti has a payout ratio of 56.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Marzetti to earn $7.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $4.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 54.7%.

Marzetti Stock Performance

Shares of Marzetti stock traded up $1.02 on Wednesday, hitting $165.44. 21,989 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 152,031. Marzetti has a 52 week low of $152.95 and a 52 week high of $198.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86 and a beta of 0.42.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $482.78 million during the quarter. Marzetti had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Marzetti will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Marzetti

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Marzetti by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 212,720 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,707 shares during the period. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC raised its position in Marzetti by 50.4% during the 2nd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 42,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,371,000 after purchasing an additional 14,290 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in shares of Marzetti by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 23,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,075,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Marzetti by 3.0% during the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 29,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,101,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Marzetti by 11.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 163,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,242,000 after buying an additional 17,187 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.