Vanguard Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 2.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,635,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 361,999 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Lamb Weston worth $966,186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 115.5% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 446 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Motco purchased a new position in Lamb Weston in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 333.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 637 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank increased its holdings in Lamb Weston by 86.8% during the 2nd quarter. City State Bank now owns 779 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of Lamb Weston stock opened at $48.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. Lamb Weston has a 52 week low of $39.79 and a 52 week high of $67.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $46.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.20 and a beta of 0.45.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.66 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is 54.68%.

Insider Activity at Lamb Weston

In other news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,595,000. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $62.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

About Lamb Weston

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.