Lancaster Colony Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

Lancaster Colony (NAS: LANC) reported earnings on Aug. 23. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
 For the quarter ended June 30 (Q4), Lancaster Colony beat expectations on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue expanded and GAAP earnings per share shrank.


Gross margins improved, operating margins increased, net margins contracted.

Revenue details
 Lancaster Colony chalked up revenue of $274.0 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ looked for revenue of $263.7 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 7.0% higher than the prior-year quarter's $256.0 million.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
 EPS came in at $0.95. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.79 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.95 for Q4 were 11% lower than the prior-year quarter's $1.07 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
 For the quarter, gross margin was 22.3%, 140 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 14.3%, 240 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 9.5%, 190 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
 Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $284.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.95.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $1.17 billion. The average EPS estimate is $3.94.

Investor sentiment
 The stock has a five-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 76 members out of 81 rating the stock outperform, and five members rating it underperform. Among 27 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 26 give Lancaster Colony a green thumbs-up, and one give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on Lancaster Colony is outperform, with an average price target of $75.00.

The article Lancaster Colony Beats on Both Top and Bottom Lines originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool has no positions in the stocks mentioned above. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend Amazon.com, hhgregg, and Netflix. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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