Marzetti’s (MZTI) Neutral Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their neutral rating on shares of Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. DA Davidson currently has a $184.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MZTI. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Marzetti from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $188.00.

Marzetti Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MZTI opened at $154.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $165.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70 and a beta of 0.39. Marzetti has a 52 week low of $152.91 and a 52 week high of $198.39.

Marzetti (NASDAQ:MZTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $2.15 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.23 by ($0.08). Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 9.25%.The company had revenue of $509.77 million for the quarter. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Marzetti will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Marzetti Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Marzetti’s payout ratio is presently 61.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Marzetti during the fourth quarter worth approximately $367,969,000. Boston Trust Walden Corp acquired a new stake in Marzetti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,355,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $40,196,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at $38,625,000. 66.44% of the stock is 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.