First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stake in The Marzetti Company $MZTI

First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in The Marzetti Company (NASDAQ:MZTI) by 18.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 803,707 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 123,875 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 2.93% of Marzetti worth $111,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp purchased a new position in Marzetti during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,118,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter valued at about $367,969,000. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $160,722,000. Geode Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marzetti in the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,681,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Marzetti by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 555,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,873,000 after purchasing an additional 7,671 shares during the period. 66.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Luis Viso sold 1,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.31, for a total transaction of $133,467.51. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,924 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $210,312.44. This represents a 38.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 29.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MZTI has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of Marzetti to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Stephens lowered their target price on Marzetti from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Marzetti from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $169.33.

Marzetti Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of Marzetti stock opened at $106.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.20. The Marzetti Company has a 52-week low of $104.28 and a 52-week high of $190.96.

Marzetti Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. Marzetti’s payout ratio is 62.60%.

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.