Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Reduces Holdings in Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LW) by 16.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,315 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 113.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 303 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 24.4% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 17.6% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Lamb Weston by 537.1% in the fourth quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZRC Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $129,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of LW stock opened at $83.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.47. Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.41 and a 1-year high of $117.38.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 4th. The specialty retailer reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.40 by ($0.20). Lamb Weston had a net margin of 16.71% and a return on equity of 50.74%. The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc. will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. StockNews.com lowered Lamb Weston from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $128.00 to $98.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $138.00 to $113.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.40.

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.