Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Acquires New Position in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new stake in The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 54,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,274,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the second quarter valued at approximately $313,083,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $367,969,000. State Street Corp acquired a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth $160,722,000. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth $111,778,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth $103,681,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on MZTI shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Marzetti in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Marzetti from $168.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Marzetti currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $135.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Luis Viso sold 1,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.31, for a total value of $133,467.51. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $210,312.44. This represents a 38.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Marzetti Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MZTI opened at $114.84 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.68. The company has a market capitalization of $3.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.70. The Marzetti Company has a 1 year low of $104.28 and a 1 year high of $186.95.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 25th. The company reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.22% and a net margin of 9.93%.The firm had revenue of $465.03 million for the quarter.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Marzetti’s payout ratio is currently 57.39%.

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.