Alberta Investment Management Corp Has $20.82 Million Stock Position in Lamb Weston $LW

Alberta Investment Management Corp lowered its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 8.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 358,400 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 33,300 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $20,816,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the second quarter worth $119,413,000. Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,379,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 989.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 704,239 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,515,000 after purchasing an additional 639,615 shares during the last quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 86.1% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 960,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $55,859,000 after purchasing an additional 444,328 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 4,547.0% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 340,394 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $17,649,000 after purchasing an additional 333,069 shares during the period. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

NYSE:LW opened at $48.89 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.40. The stock has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 7.19 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.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.59 billion. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 6.06%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.66 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio is 54.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays reduced their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Lamb Weston from $66.00 to $53.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, Lamb Weston currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,595,000. This trade represents a 20.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.