Norges Bank Buys New Shares in Lamb Weston $LW

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,999,818 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $125,662,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,679,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $698,692,000 after buying an additional 43,766 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 1.1% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,801,585 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $300,812,000 after acquiring an additional 63,865 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Lamb Weston by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,528,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $147,536,000 after acquiring an additional 21,256 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 2.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,286,305 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $190,869,000 after acquiring an additional 79,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,828,983 shares in the last quarter. 89.56% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective 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. Stephens initiated coverage on Lamb Weston in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane lowered their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Trading Up 1.0%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $42.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a PEG ratio of 5.59 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 has a 52 week low of $37.62 and a 52 week high of $67.07.

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. 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 analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Lamb Weston Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. 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 currently 71.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lamb Weston

In related news, Director Peter J. Bensen acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,697.80. This trade represents a 40.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp bought 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.93% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have acquired a total of 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.