ING Groep NV Takes $754,000 Position in Lamb Weston $LW

ING Groep NV bought a new position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 18,009 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Lamb Weston by 29.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 185,038 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $9,862,000 after acquiring an additional 42,039 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 3.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 16,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 19.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 405.9% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 256,794 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,548,000 after purchasing an additional 206,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 70.7% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stephens started coverage on Lamb Weston in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of Lamb Weston stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at $233,181,946.20. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have purchased 391,000 shares of company stock worth $16,270,790 over the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Price Performance

Shares of LW opened at $44.23 on Thursday. Lamb Weston has a twelve month low of $37.62 and a twelve month high of $67.07. The company has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.80 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.63 and a 200 day moving average of $45.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

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

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.