First National Advisers LLC Grows Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

First National Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 49,511 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,252 shares during the quarter. First National Advisers LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $3,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at $484,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 323.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 55,940 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,738,000 after buying an additional 42,740 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 201,249 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,449,000 after buying an additional 32,400 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Lamb Weston during the fourth quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, First National Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 32,046 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,142,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LW opened at $50.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.26, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.47. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $47.90 and a fifty-two week high of $107.50.

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

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders 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%. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Lamb Weston from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Lamb Weston from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.73.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

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

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.