Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) Insider Jan Eli Craps Acquires 50,000 Shares

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) insider Jan Eli Craps bought 50,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 5.7%

Shares of Lamb Weston stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $50.21. The stock had a trading volume of 3,639,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,061,468. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 7.31 and a beta of 0.45. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $39.79 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.82.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.66 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a positive change from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on LW shares. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price objective on Lamb Weston in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

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.