Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on MZTI. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Marzetti from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a report on Friday, January 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Marzetti has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.33.

Marzetti Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MZTI opened at $171.57 on Friday. Marzetti has a 1 year low of $152.95 and a 1 year high of $198.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $166.64 and a 200 day moving average of $171.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.39.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.01. Marzetti had a net margin of 8.77% and a return on equity of 18.86%. The business had revenue of $482.78 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Marzetti’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Marzetti will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Marzetti

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $367,969,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Marzetti by 21.2% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 873,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,890,000 after purchasing an additional 153,052 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in Marzetti by 14.7% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 344,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,537,000 after purchasing an additional 44,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Marzetti by 16.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 221,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,736,000 after purchasing an additional 30,731 shares during the last quarter. 66.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.