Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their target price on Marzetti from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a report on Friday, January 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $191.33.

Marzetti Trading Up 2.4%

MZTI stock opened at $171.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $166.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.27. Marzetti has a 12 month low of $152.95 and a 12 month high of $198.39. The company has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.40.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.01. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.86% and a net margin of 8.77%.The business had revenue of $482.78 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Marzetti will post 6.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Marzetti Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio is 64.94%.

Institutional Trading of Marzetti

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Marzetti in the fourth quarter valued at $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,969,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Marzetti by 21.2% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Marzetti by 14.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 344,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,537,000 after buying an additional 44,279 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Marzetti by 16.1% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 221,350 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,736,000 after buying an additional 30,731 shares in 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.