Ion Asset Management Ltd. Sells 1,102,453 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Ion Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 67.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 524,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,102,453 shares during the period. Lamb Weston makes up approximately 3.3% of Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Ion Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $30,486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 99.3% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 83,246 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,835,000 after acquiring an additional 41,477 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its position in Lamb Weston by 193.8% during the third quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 156,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,092,000 after purchasing an additional 103,257 shares in the last quarter. DoubleLine ETF Adviser LP bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth $431,000. Clearline Capital LP bought a new stake in Lamb Weston during the third quarter worth $2,127,000. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston by 47.2% in the 3rd quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 9,965 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research raised Lamb Weston from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Lamb Weston from $63.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Barclays lowered their target price on Lamb Weston from $68.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Lamb Weston from $61.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Lamb Weston in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.00.

Lamb Weston Stock Performance

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

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The specialty retailer reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. Lamb Weston had a return on equity of 27.71% and a net margin of 6.06%.The company had revenue of $1.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 3.1 EPS for the current year.

Lamb Weston Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In other news, insider Jan Eli B. Craps bought 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $48.65 per share, for a total transaction of $2,432,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 300,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,595,000. This represents a 20.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.