IVY Lane Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Lamb Weston $LW

IVY Lane Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 27,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,000. Lamb Weston comprises about 1.4% of IVY Lane Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $698,692,000 after purchasing an additional 43,766 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $300,812,000 after buying an additional 63,865 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,528,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $147,536,000 after buying an additional 21,256 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 79,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at about $125,662,000. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Lamb Weston news, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 136,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $40.89 per share, for a total transaction of $5,561,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,148,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. The trade was a 2.71% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Peter J. Bensen bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,697.80. This represents a 40.97% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have bought a total of 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stephens assumed coverage on Lamb Weston in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Lamb Weston currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:LW opened at $45.04 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.49. Lamb Weston has a 1 year low of $37.62 and a 1 year high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a P/E/G ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.47.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Lamb Weston’s payout ratio 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.