Lamb Weston $LW Holdings Lowered by JANA Partners Management LP

JANA Partners Management LP reduced its stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 30.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,008,635 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,223,584 shares during the quarter. Lamb Weston comprises about 14.1% of JANA Partners Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. JANA Partners Management LP’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $290,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of LW. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $300,812,000 after purchasing an additional 63,865 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $190,869,000 after purchasing an additional 79,257 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at about $119,413,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 46.3% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,150,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $124,872,000 after purchasing an additional 680,000 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,968,872 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,320,000 after buying an additional 378,264 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LW. BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price target on Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $46.00 target price on shares of Lamb Weston in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.00.

Insider Transactions at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $48.65 per share, with a total value of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at $14,595,000. The trade was a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 0.1%

LW stock opened at $40.49 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a one year low of $39.79 and a one year high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.08, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.61 and a 200-day moving average of $53.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of 14.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.43.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. This is a boost from Lamb Weston’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 30th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.68%.

Lamb Weston Profile

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.