Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires 27,835 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,991 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,835 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $3,770,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LW. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 29.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,862,000 after purchasing an additional 42,039 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 3.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 19.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 405.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 256,794 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $13,548,000 after purchasing an additional 206,034 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in Lamb Weston by 70.7% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 18,116 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 7,503 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $43.19 per share, for a total transaction of $2,159,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 5,398,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $233,181,946.20. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders bought 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.00.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE LW opened at $44.12 on Monday. Lamb Weston has a 12 month low of $37.62 and a 12 month high of $67.07. The stock has a market cap of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 6.37 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 4.61%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.03%.

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.