Grandfield & Dodd LLC Has $9.81 Million Stock Holdings in Lamb Weston $LW

Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 32.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 168,845 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,944 shares during the quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $9,807,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LW. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 64.2% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 537 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. raised its position in Lamb Weston by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. now owns 1,772 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Lamb Weston by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 6,056 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 28.7% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,165 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 14.5% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 2,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $44.03 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 twelve month low of $39.79 and a twelve month high of $67.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.52 and a 200-day moving average of $55.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a P/E/G ratio of 6.78 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 27.71%. The business had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. Lamb Weston’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. 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. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Cfra Research raised Lamb Weston to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, 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.