Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 456,720 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 8,572.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 462,048 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 456,720 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $19,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares during the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston during the 2nd quarter valued at $84,379,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 2,682.3% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 801,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,584,000 after purchasing an additional 772,893 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 46.3% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 129.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,089,110 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $63,256,000 after purchasing an additional 613,829 shares during the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.45 per share, for a total transaction of $197,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 17,204 shares in the company, valued at $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.19 per share, with a total value of $2,159,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 5,398,980 shares in the company, valued at $233,181,946.20. This trade represents a 0.93% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of LW opened at $42.15 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.23 and a 200 day moving average of $47.75. Lamb Weston has a fifty-two week low of $37.62 and a fifty-two week high of $67.07. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.31 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.46.

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

Lamb Weston Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Lamb Weston’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LW shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Lamb Weston from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.00.

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.