First Merchants Corp Buys Shares of 4,700 The Marzetti Company $MZTI

First Merchants Corp bought a new stake in shares of The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 4,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MZTI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Marzetti by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 11,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Marzetti during the first quarter valued at $175,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Marzetti by 3.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 32,626 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,710,000 after buying an additional 1,186 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new stake in Marzetti in the first quarter worth $231,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. 66.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Marzetti Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MZTI opened at $141.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $159.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $165.50. The Marzetti Company has a 12 month low of $137.46 and a 12 month high of $193.40.

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). The business had revenue of $509.77 million during the quarter. Marzetti had a return on equity of 18.55% and a net margin of 9.25%.Marzetti’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Marzetti Company will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Marzetti Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $1.00 dividend. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Marzetti’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MZTI shares. Stephens reduced their price target on Marzetti from $190.00 to $180.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Marzetti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Marzetti in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Marzetti from $184.00 to $168.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Marzetti presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.67.

Marzetti 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.