Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Stephens

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI)‘s stock had its “equal weight” rating reissued by equities researchers at Stephens in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $190.00 price target on the stock. Stephens’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.69% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. DA Davidson raised their price target on Marzetti from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Marzetti currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.33.

Marzetti Trading Down 8.7%

MZTI stock traded down $15.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.75. The stock had a trading volume of 54,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 139,020. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $166.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.26. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77 and a beta of 0.39. Marzetti has a 52 week low of $152.95 and a 52 week high of $198.39.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by ($0.08). Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $509.77 million during the quarter. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Marzetti will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $367,969,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,355,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,196,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Marzetti by 21.2% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 873,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,890,000 after buying an additional 153,052 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.44% of the company’s stock.

About Marzetti

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.