Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Posts Earnings Results

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $465.03 million during the quarter. Marzetti had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 18.12%.

Marzetti Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MZTI opened at $117.35 on Wednesday. Marzetti has a 52 week low of $104.28 and a 52 week high of $186.95. The company’s 50 day moving average is $111.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.35. The company has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36 and a beta of 0.32.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Luis Viso sold 1,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.31, for a total transaction of $133,467.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,312.44. The trade was a 38.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 29.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Marzetti

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MZTI. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Marzetti by 11,006.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,797,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,362,000 after buying an additional 2,772,304 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Marzetti during the 2nd quarter worth $313,083,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth about $367,969,000. State Street Corp acquired a new position in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $160,722,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth $111,778,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in 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 research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Marzetti to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $154.00.

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.