Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) Stock Holdings Reduced by Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 32.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,095 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,514 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. West Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 450 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lowered Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Lamb Weston to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 12 month low of $47.90 and a 12 month high of $107.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $57.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.44.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.35). Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 5.80%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Charles A. Blixt acquired 1,200 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $63.25 per share, with a total value of $75,900.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 22,982 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,611.50. The trade was a 5.51 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert A. Niblock bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $60.94 per share, for a total transaction of $182,820.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,406 shares in the company, valued at $1,609,181.64. This represents a 12.82 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Lamb Weston Company Profile

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc produces, distributes, and markets frozen potato products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Global, Foodservice, Retail, and Other. It offers frozen potatoes, commercial ingredients, and appetizers under the Lamb Weston brand, as well as under various customer labels.