34,037 Shares in The Marzetti Company $MZTI Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 34,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,596,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $367,969,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $90,041,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $43,355,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $40,196,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MZTI. Stephens reduced their target price on Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Marzetti from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $169.33.

Marzetti Price Performance

Shares of MZTI stock opened at $107.36 on Monday. The Marzetti Company has a fifty-two week low of $105.80 and a fifty-two week high of $190.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.80 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $149.57.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 5th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.60%.

Marzetti 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.